


strings

by teatart



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 11:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 56,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6852466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teatart/pseuds/teatart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Officer Lucas Friar commits an offense that could potentially ruin his career, he is given a job to redeem himself: to take care of renowned contemporary artist and nut job, Maya Hart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. the crazy one

**L** ucas was normally a very patient person. He wouldn't get anxious or annoyed waiting for stuff like to pay for groceries or for his blind date that Zay set him up on a weekly basis to show up. Only very few things got to Lucas but today he was losing his patience at rapid pace.

He sat in his chief's office, awaiting punishment and he got flashbacks of middle school waits in the principal's office that gave him a similar to feeling to what he felt now. His leg was bobbing up and down and he was gently tapping his finger against the wood chair he felt trapped in.

In front of him was an empty desk and behind that was a wall of the chief's achievements. Achievements he knew he wouldn't be able to get after what happened, his bruised and bloody knuckles were a constant reminder of that. Moments from the fight didn't come in flashing pictures but in memory of how it felt to break a man's nose. A familiar feeling of rage came over him and he dug his nails into the wooden arm rests just as the door to the chief's office flew open.

The chief's aftershave walked in before him. His pale stout body strode to his short, wide mahogany desk. His thin comb over wiggled as he wobbled over to his desk and it didn't stop shimmying until he sat down. Tense silence filled the room after the chief sat down, folded his hands on the table and focused his dark beady eyes on Lucas.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Friar?" The harshness in his voice made Lucas wince but he didn't break their eye contact. He knew what he did although the memory wasn't all there and he knew that he was going to get his head chewed off by the chief. "Well?" He asked again when Lucas remained quiet.

"I don't know." Lucas answered lowly. The chief's heavy hands slammed on the table as he pushed his chair away.

"You don't know? You don't know what caused you to attack a sixty year old man in front of a  _church_? You don't know what could possibly be wrong with you to cause said man to be hospitalized? Is that what you claim to not know?" His petite body wasn't very intimidating but his words were just jabbing away at Lucas' patience. What he did wasn't the most ethical response and he knew he had things to work on. Lucas didn't need the chief to tell him what was wrong with him.

"You weren't there. You don't know what he said to Zay." Zay, someone had ironically called the police on the police because Lucas remembered feeling Zay try to pull him off the man and then sounds of sirens. He remembers being handcuffed while Zay was taken elsewhere. The thought of where Zay could be had just came to mind.

The chief sighed, seeming to be losing his patience as well, "I don't care what he said to Zay. I care about what the news is going to say about one of my officers attacking a poor elderly church goer."

Lucas' poker face disappeared as his eyes lit up with the anger that was just beginning to subside, "You don't care that he called Zay a-" He caught himself before he could finish. The word disgusted him and what disgusted him more were the people that were going to see the ignorant old man as the victim of everything. Because an elderly man who goes to church couldn't  _possibly_  be a racist piece of sh-

"Look Friar, I don't have time to care about the actual facts of what happened in front of the church. Because you know who heard him say something to Zay? Only you and Zay and the man who was attacked. I don't think that the news is going to be very forgiving or willing to accept the word of a man who beat up someone."

He pressed his hands over his eyes and then slid them up into his hair because of how annoying all of it was, it annoyed him because he knew the chief was right. No one would give him sympathy, especially if they looked at his history with violent attacks, he'd look like a monster.

"So, I guess you're firing me." His mom would accept him with open arms and try to tell him there were other jobs out there, ones that he couldn't screw up. Disappointment would be all over his dad's face when he found out. He was a disgrace to the family, he wouldn't say it aloud for fear that his mother would react but they all knew. His dad would shake his head and go drown his sorrows of having a screw up for a son in a bottle of rum.

"I was." Chief said in a soft voice or at least soft for someone who yelled the majority of the time.

"Was?" Lucas couldn't hide his sudden wave of hope that was written all over his face. His job as a police officer wasn't lost, everything was fine...

"Don't get too excited, Friar. I demoted you into something else. Something that'll make you wish I would've fired you." Chief let out a cynical chuckle at the end that destroyed the hope Lucas had moments ago.

"Um, am I going to jail?"

He laughed again like everything had now become a sick joke and took a seat in his comfy leather chair, "Oh no. You're going someplace better."

"Better?" Lucas gulped.

"Yep. Now, since you're my only expendable officer, you're going to do me a favor. Kermit Hart is a good friend of mine and he's been going through some not so good things with his daughter. I need you to babysit and make sure she doesn't get into trouble."

He was going to play nanny to some girl? Kermit Hart's daughter was about eleven, he shivered thinking about the ridiculous things he'd be doing taking care of her.

"Great. So I'm babysitting some pre teen brat. That's my punishment?" Chief laughed again and it was beginning to frustrate Lucas because he honestly didn't get what was so funny.

"You think you're babysitting Sophia Hart?"

"I'm guessing I'm not?"

He shook his head, grinning like mad, "You're babysitting his other daughter, the crazy one."

The crazy one?  _Maya_  Hart? He didn't know much about her though she was in mainstream media. Although from what he's heard from around the women in the office, she was a talented young artist who went insane, falling into a statistic that young people can't handle the limelight.

"Don't worry, Friar. I'll pray for ya'," He left his desk to put a hand on his shoulder before heading towards the door, "Now I gotta go deliver the good news to Kermit." Lucas didn't try to get up, he sat down trying to comprehend what just happened and what was about to.


	2. we don't pay you to be an audience

**I** sadora's heart sank hearing Mr. Hart's "good" news. He wasn't telling her specifically, that would be unrealistic and highly unprofessional. He was telling his trophy wife, Mrs. Hart. A relieved smile played on her lips as she nodded to show she was listening to him rant about his daughter, Maya. The poor girl deserved a much better life than the one that was provided to her now.

Even though she was the maid, Isadora knew a lot more about the family then she liked to let on. She knew who was on the other side of Mr. Hart's "business" calls. She knew that Mrs. Hart knew too and continued to put up the facade of doting wife for the sake of their family image. She knew that even though Sophia Hart was eleven, she had kissed more boys than Isadora could think up. She also knew that Maya Hart was an unwelcome addition to their family and that fact was unspoken but quite obvious at any gathering with the four of them.

"Thank goodness, Kermit. She'll finally stop getting out of hand with her little scandals, I hope. You sure that Johnny is sending the right person to watch her. She's slick." Isadora could hear Mrs. Hart vent her portion as well to her husband.

"Johnny assured me that the guy they're sending me is a professional and has a zero tolerance policy. It's about time, the admissions table has been complaining about her actions destroying the school's image ever since the art gallery incident. If she keeps going the rate that she's going, I know they'll have to let me go. I just wouldn't want to see Billy lose his chance at having a real career because I couldn't be there for him." Mr. Hart was a college scout and had found a baseball prodigy named, Billy Ross. Mr. Hart was known for finding extremely talented people, because of this he's mingled with a lot of wealthy people and networked his way to becoming so popular.

Isadora hated serving the conceded airheads he would invite over for dinner parties.

"Don't worry, honey," Mrs. Hart cooed, "Everything is going to get so much better after tomorrow, when our days won't have to revolve around that ungrateful brat." She heard them kiss and internally gagged. The two of them didn't look the least bit cute together and the noises they would make whenever they showed affection were nauseating. It was like they tried to prove to each other that they were in love.

"I hope, kitten," He said softly, "Because I can't take any more of this."

Couldn't take any more of it, Isadora rolled her eyes before she turned around and nearly jumped out of her skin.

Standing there watching her eavesdrop was Sophia Hart clad in her prep school uniform and an impatient look on her face.

"Aren't you supposed to be making my breakfast?" Her arms were crossed over her chest and her small lips pursed. Isadora looked back into the living room, scared that they might've heard her gasp and try to find out what happened. The two were wrapped in each other, slapping gums and being gross.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing homework and not have the kid next door do it for you?" She said knowing that it would shut her up. Sophia had a tendency to think the world revolved around her and inside the house it did although more recently its been when Maya didn't do something chaotic.

Which was rare.

Sophia huffed her way to sit at the table and text possibly one of her groupies, Isadora wasn't sure. She tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that an eleven year old had a better phone than she did. Mr. and Mrs. Hart ended their loving embrace and made their way to the kitchen, so to make it seem like she was doing something important, she fetched a pan from the cabinet next to the sink and was pretending to search for something in the fridge when Mr. Hart said something to her.

"Late start, Isadora?" He said with a smile that she never found friendly.

"Just trying to make something extra special for Sophia, sir." Her eyes found Sophia who was too enraptured in her phone to pay her any attention.

"Oh well, I don't know if Sophia is going to have enough time to have whatever it is you're making. I don't think you want her to be late for school." Mrs. Hart said skeptically eyeing the empty pan and the clear countertop. The woman was very good at getting under her skin with a simple judgmental glance from those bright blue eyes of hers.

"Of course not, Mrs. Hart. I'll make sure to cook it quick." She said through clenched teeth but her response seemed satisfied Mrs. Hart nonetheless.

The room suddenly grew tense once Maya strode into the kitchen. All eyes focused on her and she paid them no mind, instead she went to the fridge to search for something to eat. Isadora would've cracked a smile at the annoyance on Mrs. Hart's face if the timing wasn't inappropriate.

"Maya." Mr. Hart called and she looked up from the door, her icy blue eyes feigned surprise as if she just noticed them all there.

"You need something?"

"I wanted to give you the good news so you aren't surprised the day after tomorrow."

Even with his suspicious news, Maya didn't look like she cared, "If it's some weird aunt that I've never met, I'll just stay in my room until she leaves."

"It's not a weird aunt. I've hired someone to take care of you, to make sure that you don't get into anymore trouble." If Isadora hadn't been around the family for a whole year, if she hadn't been there before the art gallery incident, she would've mistaken Mr. Hart's words as concern.

"Oh great, another babysitter. Just what I wanted." Maya answered sarcastically, "Are they going to drink tea and play dolls with me too?"

"I'm doing you a favor here, Maya. I expect you to be a little more grateful."

She rolled her eyes, "Sorry I'm not jumping for joy. Are we done?" His calm composure never broke as he nodded. Maya grabbed the nearly empty container of Oreos before going back upstairs, isolating herself once more.

Mr. Hart sighed and shook his head slightly. He had a crease in his forehead that Isadora recognized as his obvious giveaway to how frustrated he actually was with his daughter. Mrs. Hart was by his side in a second though, rubbing his shoulder and reassuring him,

"Her attitude is gonna change, darling. And if this officer doesn't have what it takes we could always go with Plan B."

He offered his wife a plastic smile before placing his hand over hers on his shoulder, "You're right. It's just she really knows how to get under my skin. Especially after everything I've done for her. But that's enough of that, I better be off. Can't keep everyone in the office waiting."

"I'll see you tonight." Mrs. Hart said to him before he closed the front door behind him. Isadora hadn't realized that she was still blatantly staring at the whole ordeal until Mrs. Hart's curt voice caught her attention. "Shouldn't you be preparing my daughter's breakfast? We don't pay you to be an audience."

She bit her tongue and nodded before going to the fridge to grab ingredients.


	3. did you see your surprise?

**H** is apartment was just as shabby as it was this morning. His bowl still sat in the sink with pieces of corn flakes stuck to it seeing as he didn't have time to rinse it out since he overslept. And his bed was unmade as it always was.

At least this, his home, remained unchanged.

Lucas peeled off his shirt and kicked off his shoes before letting himself collapse onto the bed. Only once he hit the mattress did he hear a soft  _meow_  come from underneath it. His legs still hung over the foot of the bed and he pulled them up before peering his head around the mattress.

Nothing but his worn wooden floor greeted him. He decided to hop to the top of his mattress and—there was the noise  _again_. He grabbed the end of his duvet and pulled it up as he looked under the bed.

And laying there was a grumpy looking white puff ball with a red ribbon around it's neck.

_Meow._

Lucas jumped slightly at the sound but the cat looked unbothered. When the hell had a cat gotten into his apartment? A knock at his door stopped him from thinking up theories about how a cat could've taken refuge in his home. He gave the cat one squinted look of suspicion before going to answer the door.

Looking through the peephole, Lucas rolled his eyes before opening the door.

Standing there was his friend, Missy that happened to live next door to him. She was the person who showed him and Zay around the big city when they came to look for an apartment here. The memory of him and his friend, two southern boys who didn't know anything about living in a city so grand almost brought a smile to his face.

Seeing Missy standing there in an oversized NYU sweater and ripped jeans beaming up at him almost brought a smile to his face.

"Did you see your surprise? I thought I heard someone come into your apartment but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't some crazy psycho." She peered over his shoulder and side stepped into his apartment, in search for something. He closed the door and leaned against it.

"Are you looking for a cat? Small and ball like?"

Missy jumped up from her spot on the floor looking under the couch, "Why? Did you happen to see a cat small and ball like? Did you also think that it was absolutely adorable and had to keep it?"

"No, I thought it was stray so I put it back out on the curb." The look on her face made him burst out laughing before he could stop himself.

Her jaw snapped shut once she heard him laughing and she immediately strode over to him and started smacking his chest, "Don't joke around like that, you asshole." He grabbed her wrists before she could smack for the third time and held them away from him as she glared daggers at him.

"Why exactly did you get me a cat?"

Missy sighed, "Because I told you that I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you're not lonely now that Zay moved in with Vanessa and your apartment is a little more...spacious."

"Usually people would get dogs as companions seeing as dogs are actually  _useful_." Dog or cat didn't really matter to him. He never spent enough time in the apartment to feel lonely. But in the moment and in order to annoy Missy, he cared a lot.

"Look, I don't have money coming out of my ass to just walk out and get a dog, y—" She stopped when her eyes focused on his hands, the dried blood and bruising on his knuckles were hard to miss now that she was so close to them.

"Oh my god." Missy breathed and pulled her hands out of his grip before grabbing his hands back and bringing them close to her, "What happened to you?"

Their moment of playfulness was over. Lucas could feel the light energy seeping out of the room as Missy slowly examined his wounds. The memories were back and it was nice to think for a second he didn't have them.

"Nothing, Missy. I'm fine." He jerked his hands back feeling suddenly under a microscope. He lost control. He knew it and he didn't really feel like explaining that to someone like Missy.

Lucas began to walk to his room hoping to clear his head but Missy followed him, "What do you mean it's 'nothing'? Clearly something happened. Did you get jumped? Did someone try to hurt you?"

He almost laughed at how naive she sounded, she thought his hands looked like that because of self defense. Missy thought that he was some mighty police officer who was only trying to protect himself. It was still a shock Chief had decided to give him another chance.

"You can tell me, you know? You don't have to keep everything to yourself." She said softly and his heart broke. There was nothing he wanted to do more than tell her, tell her everything in hopes that it'll bring them closer, it'll make everything much simpler. But that was just a fantasy, Lucas learned early on in life that people weren't always forgiving, they didn't always accept people who weren't perfect.

He wouldn't—couldn't take that chance with Missy. After all the happy memories he'd made with her, after all the stages of their friendship that brought her to become one of his best friends, he couldn't bare her looking at him like he was a monster too.

"I think you should go. I have stuff to do for work an—"

"I get it." She cut him off coldly, he was looking past her, at the door knowing full well that she was hurt, "I can tell when I'm not wanted."

"Missy—" Lucas called to her without even fully knowing what he was going to tell her as she made her way to the door. She stopped but didn't turn.

"You don't have to try and come with excuses for me, Lucas. I don't care what your big secret is, I just wanna know that you're okay." Without waiting for a reply Missy walked out of the dusty apartment and slammed the door.


	4. i will be okay

**I**   _woke up today._

_I have air in my lungs._

_I have working arms and legs._

_I will be okay._

* * *

_I feel like shit today._

_I keep thinking back to that night._

_I think the feeling of worthlessness might consume me._

_I don't feel okay._

Maya looked at her rounded handwriting before closing the journal. Usually writing in her journal was the easiest thing about the day. Naming three positive and negative things weren't hard, just seeing her feelings on paper, seeing the reality of it was hard.

Her room was a mess.

She had screamed and screamed into her pillow before throwing any objects in her way around. Her pillows were at the foot of her bed, her clothes were off their hangers laying wrinkled on her carpet, her lamp stayed on it's side unexpectedly in one piece after she knocked that over as well in her blind rage.

Her feelings towards her father hadn't been exactly positive as of late and she was in a destructive mood anyway but something snapped yesterday morning. The fact that he stood there pretending that he cared, pretending that he actually wanted what was best for her and asking her to be grateful...

What a joke.

When she got back to her room, she tossed her Oreos on her bed and let all of the anger she held in while in the kitchen with those vain, pretentious people she had to call her family, all the anger she held in when she thought about how content her father must've been...how easy his life must be.

Maya took a deep breath before unclenching her fists, today was another day. She would make sure to have a poker face on because there was no way in hell she would let them see her broken. She was going to continue to be a nuisance to their perfect image in the media no matter what that made of her.

On her way out, she gave a fleeting look to her laptop that remained untouched in the chaos. There was no use in her going to check her what was on it. Everyday was the same routine, she would check with her hopes high and then said hopes would soon be crushed with the realization that her friends abandoned her.

After three months of this continued cycle, Maya figured that wishing for her friends to console her was useless. Checking for emails was like waiting for her father's concerned words to become genuine. Both were very far from happening and Maya learned to live with it.

She shook her head, wishing the tall brunette girl and lanky genius from her head. They weren't important to her anymore, she obviously wasn't to them. She stepped out into the hallway, squinting at the sudden brightness. The whole house seemed to contrast Maya's room incredibly.

Hers had become dark and dreary while the home seemed to exude life and light. Incredible how the interior decorators can make the mansion seem like it was owned by decent people.

"Good morning, Ms. Hart." said a voice from the bottom of the stairs. Maya rolled her eyes at the overly polite voice, formalities were never really her thing.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Ms. Hart? We're almost the same age, Isadora." She descended the stairs and went straight to the kitchen to settle her grumbling stomach.

"How many times do I have to tell you that calling you by your first name would be highly unprofessional seeing as I'm the help and you're my boss. Are you feeling alright after yesterday?" Her usual neutral face was showed hints of worry and Maya almost felt bad for having her little meltdown yesterday.

"Nothing a shot of vodka won't fix." She joked but Isadora remained the same. A sigh slipped her lips as she opened the fridge to check for something, "I'm fine, Isadora. You really don't have to worry about me. Around this time tomorrow there'll be a nanny doing that job." Maya grabbed milk and found a sugary cereal meant to be Sophia's on top of the fridge and grabbed it. She turned to go to the cabinet with the bowls but Isadora was a step ahead of her and had one in hand.

Maya mumbled a thank you before taking a seat at the table and assembling her breakfast. Isadora started fidgeting with her fingers, wondering if her knowledge of certain things should be passed onto her blonde friend.

"Speaking of your 'nanny', Your father went to go speak to him and give him a list of things of he's supposed to be doing tomorrow as far as taking care of you." Isadora said softly unsure of how she would take it. Maya was about to put a spoonful of cereal into her mouth right before Isadora spoke her piece and the spoon had plopped back into her bowl by the time Isadora was done.

"Well I hope that lying sack of shit remembered to put what times to change my diaper. I pray he didn't forget to put that I prefer my food chewed for me because I can't seem to do anything myself, there even has to be a list given to my babysitter on ways to care for me like I'm in fucking kindergarten."

Isadora lowered her head, realizing that telling her had been a bad idea after all, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you."

"You don't have to apologize, Isadora. You didn't give birth to that asshole. He's just really incredible sometimes, it's like he knows special ways to piss me off and then passes it off like he actually cares. That nanny has no idea what she's in for. I bet you, she'll quit after my first screaming match with my dad."

Remembering Mrs. Hart's promise of a Plan B came to mind, surely it wasn't something that would actually benefit her. Telling Maya would only tempt her to do something reckless so Isadora tried a different approach, "Maybe the babysitter will end up being a good thing. It could actually be helpful and—"

"Don't tell me he actually brainwashed you into thinking this little idea of his was a good one? Isadora, you were the only one who was on my side." Her baby blue eyes were wide in disbelief.

"I  _am_  on your side. I just think that maybe having some attention given to you won't be so bad, even if it's some weird Mary Poppins lady that insists on giving you candy from the bottom of her purse."

The room stayed quiet. Isadora hoped Maya couldn't tell she was lying, the girl didn't need a babysitter, she needed a therapist. But in the real world where no one cared about mental states, Isadora figured that having a babysitter that knew absolutely nothing about Maya's situation was better than whatever hell Mrs. Hart was planning to send Maya to.

Maya sighed, "Tomorrow is gonna suck." She got up from her chair and dumped her cereal into the sink before grabbing the sponge to wash the bowl. Another thing to the list of stuff Maya does that rich people do not.

Insists on doing everything herself, _"I have hands and legs too."_  She told Isadora the first time the young maid tried to do her laundry. The memory was one of the most pleasantly surprising things that's happened to Isadora here and she can't ever let go of the respect she gained for Maya that day. And even though Isadora saw so many flaws with having a babysitter look out for Maya, she hoped something good comes out it...for Maya's sake. 


	5. he was her worst nightmare

**S** he didn't sleep. That wasn't really much of a change though, sleep has meant nightmares to her for the past few months and a deep sleep with complete darkness was a fleeting pleasure. Her mind kept going to Isadora's words. It didn't halt the suspicions in her head, there was definitely a reason that Isadora would be on board with her dad's horrible idea.

She couldn't think of a way to find out the reason but it didn't stop her from thinking of theories. Her father definitely gave her a raise so that Maya could be completely isolated.

No, she mentally crossed that off. Isadora wasn't the kind to be bought. She appreciated naturally nice gestures to expensive gifts, the following examples being any of Maya's gifts that she'd gotten her. They stayed untouched on top of her wardrobe possibly collecting dust but Maya doubts that seeing as Isadora is such a neat freak.

The sun peaked it's unwelcome rays into her room, one of them shining directly in her eye.

Today was the day her babysitter came and ruined her life. She was going to be watched every moment from the time the nanny walked in until who knows? Maya only knew that she hated people watching her life whether it have been good like it had been during her process to open her gallery or now when the entire media trashes her and blames her 'stunts' on her 'inability' to handle fame.

They were all attention seeking idiots. None of the magazines were even close to knowing the truth about her life.

Maya rolled onto her side and groaned at the lack of a pillow there. Her room was still a mess and she had refused to let Isadora go upstairs and clean it all up. She had caused this. Her anger had caused all this, it seemed ridiculous that Isadora needed to be punished at her lack of control over her temper.

Her stomach grumbled and she placed her hand over it as a means to quiet it. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work. If she could just stay in her room for the whole day then the nanny would think she wasn't there and leave.

The idea sounded more stupid and childish the more she thought about it.

She could only go so long without eating. Isadora would find a way to coax her out of the room and then she'd be face to face with her nanny all because of her stupid stomach.

Her eyes flew to her journal on her nightstand. The constant reminder that she wasn't stable and that she needed to write down her feelings or she'd lose her mind.

The pen had been in the middle of the book as a bookmark and she began her daily ritual.

_I have air in my lungs._

_I have food in my fridge._

_I have a roof over my head._

_I haven't lost all sanity yet._

_I have working arms and legs._

* * *

_My father despises me._

_So does my stepmother._

_I will have a nanny that will treat me like a_ _basket case._

_There are still no escapes._

_I am not okay._

A knock sounded on her door and her eyes flew to it, grateful that she closed it on her way back upstairs yesterday. Please don't be her babysitter, she prayed.

"Yes?" Maya said coolly from her bed.

"It's Isadora. I wanted to know if you were hungry so I could make you something." Maya waited to hear if there was any other noise coming from downstairs, her father and stepmother having a conversation, her younger sister whining about not being the center of the universe or her babysitter waiting patiently to make her life even worse.

There was nothing. But just to be safe...

"Nope. I'm good." She could hear Isadora sigh from the other side of the door.

"This isn't a trick, Ms. Hart. I promise that I just genuinely want to know if you're hungry so you can eat something." Was she that transparent? She remembered being more slick.

Maya rose from her bed and strut over to the door before opening it a crack. Sunlight invaded the room immediately and nearly blinded her, "Look, I'm not hungry. Am I not allowed to be? Did my father ask you to begin force feeding me?"

"Ms. Hart, can you please come downstairs and stop being so stubborn?" Anyone who didn't know Isadora wouldn't find anything wrong with her forward attitude, Maya actually found it endearing but ever since that day three months ago, Isadora treads with caution around Maya. So hearing her speak in an irritated tone with her for the first time surprised her.

"Is everything okay, Isadora?"

"Yeah, everything is just great. I mean people are just amazing aren't they? They don't stop to think of anyone who actually needs them just stupid leggy models that giggle at their every word." She grumbled and turned to walk downstairs.

Leggy models? What the hell?

Her never-ending curiosity got the best of her and she followed Isadora downstairs, to the kitchen. There were ingredients on the counter, eggs, milk, a bowl and whisk. Isadora presumed she would want an omelette.

"Who are you talking about? Who needs a leggy model?"

"No one. Absolutely no one but a brainless, ignorant brat." Isadora went to the bowl she had out and started to crack two eggs into it before adding a splash of milk angrily.

Who could rile up  _Isadora_  that much? "Look, I wanna take a guess here and say Sophia but I don't think my dad would let her have models."

"Sorry, I'm being incredibly unprofessional here. If your father got word of me ranting about and not doing any work he would be—" Maya placed a hand over Isadora's working one and that stopped her.

"My father isn't here, I care about what's bothering you. You're always worried about me, can't I know what's bothering you?" Her brown eyes looked apologetic and she opened her mouth to say who or what was bugging her but all Maya heard was the doorbell.

"That must be him." Isadora said instead, rushing over to the door.  _Him_? Was that the person who was bothering her? Was  _he_  the one with leggy models with no brain?

Maya hadn't realized she was following Isadora to the door until she pulled their front door open and revealed a tall man with sun kissed skin. He wore loose dark wash jeans and a blue v neck. The man looked nothing like anyone of importance or at least he didn't dress like he was important.

Then his bright green eyes focused on her and then beneath her. More specifically her sleepwear.

She suddenly felt extremely aware of the "pajamas" she was wearing. Her pajamas consisted of one big band t-shirt that she remembers getting from...well that didn't matter. What matters is that she never realized how short her shirt was and how uncomfortable the gaze of a stranger made her.

Who the hell was this?

After what felt like forever, Isadora spoke, "You're the babysitter I'm assuming?"

Babysitter? This random man was taking care of her? How cruel could her father be? The man held up a folded up sheet of paper and smiled lightly, "Well, according to this list, I guess I am. But I prefer to go by Lucas not the babysitter."

He had a name. He had an  _accent_. He was her worst nightmare.


	6. cowboy: 1 rich girl: 0

**S** he was a lot smaller than he had imagined. A lot thinner than he had anticipated too. After speaking with the chief he had decided to do a little research about the supposed basket case he had to take care of. There were dozens of pictures of her being escorted out of her gallery. Her face is being covered by the few people, bodyguards probably, walking along side her. But some were of her in fake candid shots painting or photos of her with a brunette girl smiling. Those photos showed someone completely different to the person he saw in front of him now.

This girl didn't have a bright smile with glowing skin, she looked pale, angry and suspicious. She also happened to be wearing only an oversized t-shirt from what he saw in the brief moments his eyes wandered from her face. Before he could have his eyes glance over at something else a voice brought his attention to the girl next to her. She was about the same height, slightly tanner than Maya and her brown eyes were looking at him expectantly.

"You're the babysitter, I'm assuming?"

He mustered a small smile and held up the ridiculous list he'd received from Mr. Hart, "Well, according to this list, I guess I am. But I prefer to go by Lucas not the babysitter." He even held out his hand to her and she placed her smaller hand in his. The moment her eyes traveled from his face to his hand, the memory of Missy came to mind. The two probably "shook" hands for about two seconds before Lucas pulled away and put both his hands in his pockets.

"Well I'm Isadora," She said eyeing like he was insane, "I'm the maid and this is—" Isadora gestured to the girl next to her who was looking at Lucas like he was some foreign animal on display.

"Are you kidding me?" Maya finally spoke. Not the welcome he was expecting either. Isadora looked surprised as well. "My father doesn't actually expect this huckleberry to take care of me?"

Huckleberry? His accent wasn't  _that_  bad.

Isadora glared at her before facing Lucas again, "I'm sorry, she's just really hungry. In fact, I was just about to finish making breakfast. Come in! Make yourself at home." Lucas stepped through the door and Isadora quickly shut it before grabbing Maya's wrist and pulling her towards where he assumed was the kitchen.

Their house was  _really_  expensive, Lucas noted as he looked around. Everything looked like it came out of a catalogue, all neutral colored throw pillows on their long white couch that looked too nice to sit on. There was two matching white one seat sofas on both sides of the long one but those didn't seem safe either.

He didn't know how long they'd left him in the living room but he began to grow bored and out of habit he checked to see if Missy sent him something to make him laugh like she usually did throughout the day when she had lunch break.

She hadn't text him anything. Well, of course she wouldn't you idiot now that you went and messed everything up, He said to himself.

Taking a chance, Lucas began typing…

**Listen Missy, I think we should talk about what happened two days ago. I don't want you to think I'm keeping a part of my life from you bc I'm not. The truth is you mean a lot to me and I don't want to lose you over something like this**

"Alright sundance, let's get one thing straight. I don't want you here nor do I need you here. " An obnoxious voice that he was learning quickly belonged to his babysitee.

He locked his phone and put it in his pocket before looking around him pretending to be in search of someone, "Oh, were you talking to me?" Lucas looked at her and noted that she was no longer wearing her big pajama shirt. She was wearing jeans and a Beatles shirt.

At least she had good taste in music.

"Who else would I be talking to, heehaw? It's just you and me here." Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked completely annoyed. That made two of them.

"Okay, listen up munchkin. My name is  _Lucas_  and I didn't come here to argue with some fifteen year old. I came to do a job."

"Well let me be the one to say you're relieved of your duties." She said with a plastic smile. "You can take your little redneck comedy elsewhere."

"No can do. Since your dad is the one who hired me, I guess he'll have to be the one to fire me." Lucas shot her a cheeky grin that he hoped would make her blood boil.

Maya glared holes in his head and walked closer to him, "Listen closely huckleberry because I'm gonna slow it down for your thick head, your services are not needed. I'm a grown adult who doesn't need to be babysat by some cattle herder." She looked almost relieved when Lucas nodded in understanding but that was before he opened the folded paper he held up earlier when he introduced himself and began reading what was on it.

"Did you eat already?" He asked while still looking at the paper.

"Don't change the subject." She said and went to slap the paper out of hand but he was quicker. Lucas stepped back and lifted the paper well above his head so she couldn't reach.

"I asked you a question, answer me." Lucas had started to grow irritated enough with the girl in front of him, he was a trained officer. He had gone through enough crap back in Texas then hell from the police academy only to be placed in front of some rich girl who thought she was too good to be near a normal person.

"Bite me, cotton eye joe." She said before jumping up to try and grab the paper which he once again moved around so she couldn't get to it. It hadn't even been that long since the two have known each other and he could tell that taking care of this girl wasn't going to be easy.

Before Lucas could say anything back to her though, Isadora popped into the living room and smiling, "Breakfast is ready."

Maya turned her head and began to say, "I'm not—" before Lucas spoke over her with a charming smile and said, "We'll be right there, Isadora. Thank you."

Isadora took one amused look at the pair before nodding her head and retreating back into the kitchen. Maya whipped around to look at him like he was insane, "Okay cowboy, you may be hired by my father to look after me but don't you speak for me, I have a mouth."

"I'm well aware that you can speak for yourself. But you need to eat, it's not healthy if you don't."

"Don't try to pretend you're concerned, you're just doing your job at annoying the hell out of me."

Lucas pretended he was hurt, "Well I'll be damned. My job is taking care of you so I guess annoying the hell out of you is just a bonus,  _ma'am_." He tilted an imaginary hat and winked at her. Her face showed a mixture of shock and disgust and he tried his hardest not to burst out laughing.

"Ooooooooh." She turned and walked into the kitchen angrily and he didn't fight the cheerful grin that spread across his face.

Cowboy: 1

Rich girl: 0


	7. who's missy heart emoji?

**T** he cowboy knew how to push her buttons. And the worst part was that she couldn't even try to be cool and pretend that he didn't. It was like he had a special power that allowed him to get under her skin with ease. The names she'd called him seemed to have no effect at all, her usual snarky attitude had done nothing to help, it'd only amused him.

Stupid cowboys. Her journal entry the following day had been made up of her experience with her babysitter.

_I'm not southern_

_I don't speak with an annoying accent_

_I don't have a farm of cows which I herd_

_I don't have annoyingly bright green eyes_

_I'm from Manhattan, not some lowly ranch in Texas._

* * *

_I have bad karma because I have a babysitter who has all of the traits I am thankfully not._

_He is obnoxiously southern._

_He acts like he knows everything about me._

_He keeps calling me fifteen_

_I'm refuse to let him see through me._

Never in her life had she gone downstairs so fast after writing in her diary because she  _needed_  to vent to Isadora. Her day with her babysitter had been terrible. After he made her eat her breakfast, he decided that it would be nice to never give her some privacy. Maya decided that staying in her room for the rest of the day wouldn't be such a bad idea especially because the cowboy knew how to annoy her so well and they'd only just met.

When she realized that she was being followed up the stairs and looked at him in confusion, "You lost?" He smiled at her like she'd just said something silly and shook his head.

"Nope."

"Okay. I'm going to my room now." Maya continued up the stairs and resisted the urge to scream when she heard his footsteps coming up along with her, "I meant alone, huckleberry."

Instead of understanding like a normal person he shook his head like she'd said the wrong thing again, "No can do. I have to make sure you're not alone for more than ten minutes. Father's orders." He held up the damn note again. She had a feeling the need to burn it wasn't fleeting.

"Gee, I didn't know my father hired me a stalker. I don't need a human surveillance camera, what does he think I'm gonna do?" It was a specific question that she expected him to answer. Her track record hadn't been the cleanest after the incident at the gallery but it improved from what happened a month ago.

Maya never allowed her thoughts to dwell back to that time too much.

"I don't know, I didn't ask questions. I'm just trying to do my job. So after you." He held out his hand and gestured for her to continue up the stairs. If her mind hadn't been filled with ways to have the farm boy fired, she would've sped up and raced into the room before he could catch up.

The whole room situation would've been easier that way. His eyes flew all over her room, to the lamp that still laid on it's side to the clothes strewn on the floor off their hangers. Her stomach twisted slightly at the realization that everything that was wrong with her she kept trapped in the room. She never let anyone step inside before other than Isadora and that wasn't long enough for her to get a good enough look like Lucas had.

"Actually, we should just go into the living room." She said loudly and then grabbed his wrist and dragged him back down the stairs. Maya made sure the door to her room was closed and mentally made a note to make it look as normal as possible during the time the cowboy was watching over her. The two disrupted the immaculate peace of the couches when they sat down, Maya especially wiggled to get comfortable and throw the decorative pillows on the floor.

She reached onto the coffee table to grab the remote and turned on the TV hoping that there was something on that could get her mind off the exposed feeling she now had. Lucas was on the other side of the couch glaring holes in his phone and mumbling something under his breath.

Maya scrolled through the channels until she finally found the movie that would make her forget all about the annoying things that happened today, she smiled before hitting the channel to watch one of her favorite films,  _Grease_.

The songs were unbelievably catchy and no matter how cheesy the plot was, it always made Maya happy. It reminded her of when she would go over to the Matthews' and see-

"No, no that's stupid." The boy next to her grumbled and proceeded to keep hitting his iPhone in annoyance. Her eyes stayed on him for a while as she realized he was texting someone.

Or at least trying to.

When watching him had grown boring because of his continued stare on his screen she turned away to watch John Travolta sing in the drive in theater until once again Lucas made everything worse.

He let out an obnoxious groan and let his phone fall into his lap, "Dammit, why can't I write anything?" The question was obviously not meant for her, the question was probably even rhetorical but Maya answered him anyway,

"Because the education on the farm wasn't Ivy League."

He raised his head but didn't look at her and scoffed, "Very funny, you can probably pursue comedy after your parents are done putting you in the psychiatric ward." His words stung but she wasn't going to let him know that instead she decided that she was going to abandon watching her movie to bother him. She paused the movie and threw herself to the other side of the couch.

"So, who you texting? Your Pappy Joe? Does he wanna know how you're surviving in the Big Apple?"

Lucas glared up at her before moving away from her towards the arm of the couch, "I don't know why you're suddenly so interested but it's really none of your business."

"It's my business if you insist on being near me 24/7. So, let's have it." She was almost impressed with how quickly she snatched the phone from his hands. The look of surprise on his face surpassed her own though because he looked livid. He moved forward to grab it but she jumped to her feet before he could and made a run for the stairs.

In her haste she glanced down at the phone that had an incomplete message to...

"Who's Missy heart emoji? Is she the little southern belle you've got back home?"

"Give me my phone, Maya!" He yelled at her from the bottom of the stairs. She had made it up successfully and she let her ego get the best of her. Instead of going into her room and locking the door like she had planned to, she decided to taunt him.

"That's Miss Hart to you."

"Would you just come down here and give me back my phone?" Lucas looked completely serious and if she wasn't having such a ball pissing him off she might've considered actually giving his phone back to him.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna write a little message to Missy about what kind of guy you are." She took her eyes off him for two seconds, at least that's what it felt like before she had the phone ripped from her hands. He was beside her at the top of the stairs and she stared at him bewildered.

"I tried asking you nicely."

"Oh is the good mannered cowboy getting angry?" She asked in a baby voice, "That should be fun." Her eyes passed by the phone in his hands and noticed bruising and scabbing around his knuckles. "It seems like the cowboy gets angry quite a few times. What'd you do beat someone up for looking at you the wrong way?"

He scoffed and glared at her, "I was gonna ask you the same thing when I saw what a wreck your room was. Did daddy cut you off and you threw a temper tantrum?"

"Of  _course_ , huckleberry. Am I that transparent?"

"You might not think you are, princess but you're wrong. Back in Texas, we can determine a what a person's all about within the first minute of meeting them and I've just found yours."

"Really? Enlighten me."

"You're a sad little girl looking for affection where there is none. You pull all these crazy stunts that have made your father think you need a babysitter because deep down you're a lonely, broken shell of a person."

He wasn't right. He knew nothing about what happened to her. No one understood. The mantra in her head kept playing on loop but it didn't effect how much it hurt, her stomach had plummeted at the harshness in his voice, the harshness of his words.

Putting on a brave face, she said coldly, "You don't know a thing about me, huckleberry. So don't assume you do." Then she walked into her room and shut the door behind her.

She refused to let the cowboy best her. She refused to let someone break through the surface, she was  _not_  going to cry because of some southern boy. And she didn't, she just sat by the door with her knees pulled up to her chest and counted her breaths until they started to become even again.

That night everything went from bad to worse.

Her sister comes home around the same time as her father and step mother late in the afternoon. It was then that they all got to take a look at who exactly was babysitting her.

"Mr. Friar!" She heard her father yell at the top of the stairs. A weight moved from the other side of her door (where the cowboy had decided to plant himself and continuously ask if she was there to which she would bang on the door where she hoped he was leaning his head).

"Mr. Hart, how is everything?" His voice was getting fainter meaning that he was getting farther away from the door. Feet pounded down the steps and then his voice was as soft as the rest of them.

"I should be asking you that. Did Maya give you any trouble?" More like the opposite, she grumbled to herself.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, sir."

"Who are you?" A high pitched voice that belonged to her sister asked. She could picture her trying to shoot him dazzling smiles and try to tie him around her finger like she did with everyone she ever met.

"I'm Lucas Friar, I'll be taking care of your sister." Oh yeah, taking care of your sister...

Number one would be to make sure she remembered that her life wasn't great and that it was getting worse and worse everyday. Yeah, he was taking care of her alright...

"Well, Lucas I'm sure that Maya appreciates having such a responsible and handsome man looking after her." The sly voice of her step mother said. All the compliments were making her nauseous. Did people actually think he was a good person?

And handsome? She's seen  _way_  better looking guys than that huckleberry.

At least she knew that she wouldn't have to put up with him much longer since the day was almost over.

"Why don't you stay for dinner and tell us about yourself?" Her step mother 'asked'. She had a way of making questions sound like demands. Judging by the erupt of cheers Lucas must've nodded yes to dinner.

It was final in that moment that she wasn't going downstairs and that was the end of it. There was no way that Maya was going to sit through an entire meal and listen to Lucas babble on about tractors and farm life or the natural cornucopia of the Earth's bounty. It would take a miracle to get her downstairs.

And that miracle was named Isadora.

...

Even though she had nearly fought Isadora on the spot yesterday for dragging her downstairs, she still needed to vent about how horrible it had been yesterday. She needed to share before he came back and made everything worse again.

Isadora was waiting downstairs for her with pancakes and a smile.

She was suspicious immediately. One of her theories was that she was sorry about making her go downstairs but that seemed like too many pancakes for her to be sorry about that.

"What is all this, Isadora?" Her eyes stayed focused on the large stack of pancakes calling her name. Her feet led her to the dining room table where Isadora had already set a place for her and she took a seat.

"It's a celebration. I have good news to tell you that's going to lift your spirits and if it doesn't, I made pancakes." She grinned and brought a cup of milk to her.

"Okay, well what's the good news?" Maya said with a mouthful of pancakes.

"So, I overheard your father talking to your mother today."

She snorted and made air quotes, "Right, 'overheard'." Isadora made a face and then continued, "I overheard them talking about someone landing tomorrow from Paris and my mind went to the only person this family would care about being in Europe. It's Riley! She's coming home."

All the excitement on Isadora's face didn't faze her, she didn't feel like clapping or jumping or squealing. Her best friend was coming home and all she felt was dread.


	8. just like she knows who you are?

**H** is temper had gotten the best of him once again. The regret hit him instantly after he said those things to Maya and lingered on until he left after dinner. Sure, she was rude and uncouth. And she kept calling him stereotypical southern names but it didn't give him the right to speak to her that way after just meeting her.

He remembers how close he was to picking the lock on her door if she stopped banging on the door to let him know she was still there. It was ridiculous how quickly he got defensive and angry when she was about to text Missy.

Something in him felt like it had been exposed, not even Zay knew that he had a heart next to her name albeit Missy suggested he do it because she considered him close to her heart. What she didn't know was the  _hold_  she had over his heart. And not being able to talk to her for the past two days was killing him. He thought the day after she wouldn't be as upset as before but he was wrong. She hadn't picked up his calls and he thought was for the better because what would he have told her?

Lucas was very aware of his issues and was careful to not just tell anyone about them.

And that night after leaving the Hart's home, he intended on secluding himself from the world once more and sulking about screwing up his relationship with the one of the best people he's ever met. A cold beer was waiting for him in the fridge and he would savor the feeling of not thinking for a little while but when he opened the door to his apartment, sitting on his couch was his friend, Zay Babineaux.

He moved across the room in two strides and pulled him into a hug which might've been too tight due to Zay's squirming but in that moment Lucas didn't care. He hadn't seen his friend in two days and wasn't sure what had happened after the police had shown up outside of the church.

Lucas pulled away and grinned,"Where have you been? Are you okay? I thought something bad must've happened since I didn't hear from you in two days."

Zay laughed and plopped back on the couch sipping on, Lucas noted, the beer that had been waiting for him in the fridge, "I'm fine, man. Everything happened in a blur that day, I was taken into questioning and before I knew it Vanessa was waiting for me outside crying about wanting to surprise me at work and hearing about an incident at a church."

"So, you've been home these past two days doing what?"

"Well mainly I've just been letting Vanessa dote over me and wait to hear about anything from Chief which I did last night. Turns out they can't get rid of this pretty face that easily." He said before taking another swig of his beer. "What about you? Did you hear anything last night?"

He let a deep sigh slip from his lips before he sat down next to Zay, "I actually got my news delivered face to face. While they were questioning you, Chief was yelling at me. He kept telling me things I already knew like how stupid and thoughtless it was of me to act on impulse, that's when he gave me the good news."

"You still have your job too?"

"I still have  _a_  job. Not necessarily the one that the academy prepared us for. Chief assigned me to be a care giver for this rich girl, Maya Hart." Zay's jaw nearly hit the ground.

" _You_ ,  _you're_  taking care of  _Maya Hart_?"

"Don't act so surprised, I can take care of a little temper throwing heiress, albeit today wasn't the best way to start but-"

Zay shook his head before interrupting him, "I don't think you realize what you've gotten yourself into, Luke. She's crazy and almost stray jacket crazy, she ruined her own gala for no reason. It was on the news a few weeks ago that she was even caught out on her balcony." What Zay was telling him was nothing new. Mr. Hart hadn't held back anything when he gave Lucas the note and told him the things that needed to be done while taking care of his daughter.

So since there was no look of interest on his face only mild surprise that his friend knew so much gossip, "Look, I know all about that but a job is a job and I might've just made everything a hundred times harder."

"What did you do? Not give her her hourly foot massage?"

"I told her that she's an empty shell of a person and that everyone can see right through her little desperate acts for attention." He said with a sigh, "If that didn't say 'I'm an asshole', I don't know what else would."

"Harsh, even for someone off their rocker. But don't keep making yourself feel guilty over it, she probably forgot all about it which you'll be doing the minute that Missy gets here with more beer," He reached for the beer by the arm of the couch, "This is your last one."

" _Really_? I hadn't noticed." Lucas said sarcastically just before the familiar sound of soft meows ensued and out came his small refuge. It seemed that the cat hadn't made an appearance the whole time that Zay was in the house due to the bewildered look on his face as the cat strode in to join them.

"When did you get a cat? How much have I missed in the past two days?"

"Missy got me the cat because she thought I'd be lonely in the apartment now that you moved in with Vanessa. That leads me to part two of what I was trying to tell you before...it showed up." He gave it a pointed look as it rubbed up against his foot, "Missy isn't showing up with any beers or at all for that matter. I kind of screwed things up with her."

"What did ya' do this one, man?" Zay sat down on the couch and looked at Lucas like he was hopeless. It seemed true for the time being, his job sucked solely due to the person he had to take care of and the only woman other than his mother that mattered in his life hasn't spoken to him in two days. He was beyond hopeless.

"When I got back from the precinct, my hands were still...bloody and bruised. I hadn't taken care of it due to everything that happened right after and she came to visit me to introduce me to the cat she bought for me. We were talking and she saw my hands and asked about them like a normal person and I shut her down, its stupid how I feel like I need to hide this from her and there was even a moment that day where I thought telling Missy wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, it might actually help our relationship but I couldn't make any words come out. It was like my mind refused to believe that she would still see me the same way after she knew the truth."

Zay didn't seem even a little sorry about what his friend was feeling. He actually looked about ready to lecture him. His friend sighed and shook his head but otherwise said nothing.

"What is it?" Lucas inquired knowing full well that his friend wasn't the kind of person to keep things to himself. Zay's lips curved into a smile before he took a deep breath and let him have it.

"For starters, you're the bravest person I know. There's no doubts in my mind about that but there are doubts about what you think you feel for Missy."

Lucas flushed and stared at his friend like he were insane to make such an accusation, "Wha-What are you talking about?"

Zay rolled his eyes and continued on his tangent, "You're grateful to her, she's the first girl that you've met that didn't know all your dirty laundry. You idolize this girl for being so kind and welcoming to us when we were two southern boys lost in the big city. You put her on the highest pedestal and can't fathom to think or believe that a nice girl like that would accept you for who you are."

The cat had laid by Lucas' feet now, as if knowing that if he made himself cute enough that Lucas would pick him up which wasn't a lie because he was resisting the urge to look like a weird cat lady and snuggle against him like he had the previous night sulking about Missy. Zay didn't find his lack of eye contact or response discouraging because he continued.

"Whether or not you think you're in love with Missy is on you but hiding a big part of your past from your good friend isn't right. At least not if you're trying to make things head in the direction you want."

"How do you know what direction that is?"

"Because I know  _you_. And I think that because you've been holding off telling her for so long, something in your gut must be telling you something opposite of what your head is." When had his best friend become so wise, Lucas wasn't sure and he worried that if their conversation ventured further into the depths of his relationship with Missy, he'd start saying things Lucas didn't want to hear.

"I'm allowed to be afraid to share my secrets with someone without having an ulterior motive."

Zay seemed to consider what he said, "I know, I just think that deep down you want her to accept you and be the one for you but you're afraid that if she rejects you her perfect image will be ruined and you'll realize that she's not really the person you want to be with. It might make you look at other people instead of who you think Missy is."

 _Ridiculous_ , he thought. Although the only thing he could find ridiculous about the situation was that his feelings for Missy weren't so well hidden like he'd hoped, in the very beginning of their friendship Lucas had thought Missy was extraordinarily beautiful and kind and had relied those thoughts to Zay who had agreed suspiciously and accused him of having a crush on a city girl.

But that was a year ago and he must've stopped looking at her like he  _liked_  her and more like he liked having her around. And in that mental struggle Lucas was having with himself, he decided that he wanted to save a little bit of his pride, "I know who Missy is, Zay."

"Just like she knows who you are? I'm not trying to go all Dr. Phil on you, Luke but I just thought you should consider what you're losing. Now, I'm gonna go get us more beer." Zay pat Lucas' shoulder in passing, stepped around the cat and grabbed his jacket before Lucas could think of something to say back.

He was left alone in the apartment with his never ending thoughts and the sounds of the cat purring by his feet.


	9. don't try to reverse psychology me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to everyone who supported this story, it means the world! x

**R** iley was coming home.

Strange how three months ago or possibly even a month ago she would've been elated to hear the news. She would've been screaming from the rooftops that her other half was coming home, making sure that everyone in town knew that her best friend was gonna be back and everything was going to be okay again.

She was still in denial then. She was clinging onto a sliver of hope that someone could save her, to be more specific that someone was Riley. Her ride or die, her sister, the honey to her peaches,she was going to come and make everything better.

And now the thought of her coming makes her remember all the naive emails she had sent that ended up being ignored. How juvenile she was for thinking people would come to her aid. They weren't sixteen anymore.

Her thoughts had ended up taking her into the basement where no other members of the house ventured into. It was there that she kept her painting supplies and art that was too intimate to share to anyone else, not even Isadora had seen them. Meaning that the basement wasn't exactly the cleanest place because Maya was the one solely in charge of it and she wasn't the best at remembering to clean the shelves or-

"Maya? You down here?" An annoyingly southern voice shouted from the top of the stairs. He wasn't actually going to come down here was he? Maya didn't trust him thankfully so she made her way up the stairs before he could come down and see any other personal bits of her life.

He was wearing plaid and jeans and carrying a box of Krispy Kreme donuts. There was also the bright smile on his face that Maya was choosing not to return because he was an asshole.

"What do you want, huckleberry? To pry into my space some more and throw a couple more unwanted opinions around?" It was like magic how quick the smile slipped away when he realized that she wasn't going act like he had anticipated her to. Donuts or not, he managed to rub her the wrong way within 24 hours of meeting her and nothing was going to change how she felt being around him.

His cheeks flushed and he glared, "No, I came here to try and have a truce. What I said yesterday was completely—"

"Inaccurate? Unecessary? Irritating? I think it could be all of the above."

"Jeez, you don't make anything easy, do you?" He tried saying under his breath but she managed to hear it and it actually made her a little happier, "This is my peace offering because we didn't start off on the right foot yesterday and I'm not saying it was entirely my fault because you weren't exactly miss innocent but I did play a part in it and I'm sorry and I was wondering if we could start over."

Today was one for the books, Maya thought. She thought he was just trying to pretend like he was still a good ol' farm boy after all the things he had said to her yesterday, the last thing she thought he was getting at with the donuts was an apology.

"What's the catch, cowboy? Is my dad giving you a raise if you put a smile on my face or something?" She leaned against the stair railing and made sure that his eyes didn't stray down the stairs into more of her personal space.

"There is no catch. I just want to not dread coming to work everyday and make these little babysitting sessions as painless as possible, for both of us."

"That's it? No ulterior motives?"

"Nope, so what'd ya' say? Truce?" Instead of holding out his hand that she would contemplate shaking, he opened the box of donuts and pushed it in front of her face. The sugary sweet smell almost distracted her from the task at hand.

"Truce," She said but pushed the box back towards him, "On a few conditions."

Lucas threw his head back and sighed, "What conditions, Maya?"

"Alright for one, I'd like for you to stop force feeding me. I'm nineteen years old and I can feed myself when I'm hungry."

"One of the things your father explicitly told me was that you haven't been eating regularly like you're supposed to and I hate to break it to you but food is one of the few things that humans need to survive so you have to eat or I'll get fired."

Not like that would be the end of the world, Maya thought to herself before moving on to her next condition.

"Fine, I'll eat but my second condition if for you to stop invading my personal space. Now being a prime example," Lucas stepped back and slammed into the door before realizing that stair landing they almost shared didn't leave a lot of room for personal space, "I don't need you to watch me 24/7 like my dad apparently thinks I do. You don't follow me to my room and you especially don't follow me down here."

"Okay but how will I make sure you're okay? That's the whole point of my job, I'm supposed to be watching you, Maya."

"We live in the twenty first century, heehaw. You can just call me and stay on the phone then you'll know I'm okay. Problem solved."

"But what if I have a phone call I'm waiting for and can't talk to you?" He asked her trying to outsmart her.

"I doubt Missy is more important than you having a form of employment. But if you  _really_  can't be bothered to use your phone then you'll have to come downstairs blindfolded and listen for the sound of my voice."

His jaw tightened at the mention of her name and he grit his teeth, "Alright, I'll call you but for no longer than half an hour."

"Deal but I have one last condition and that is for you to stop calling me Maya and start calling me Ms. Hart. I am your employer after all, it just seems really unprofessional to speak to your boss that way."

"You're not even my boss and to top it off, I'm older than you and I'd look ridiculous calling you Ms. Hart." He tried arguing his point which amused Maya more than she cared to admit but kept her face as solemn as possible.

"If Alfred can call Batman, Master Bruce then I think you can call me Ms. Hart." Maya said and bit her lip to keep from laughing at his expression.

"But you're not Batman." He said incredulously, his green eyes searching her face for a sign of reason.

"Yes but I do unfortunately share the same blood as the person who signs your checks and that must count for something."

"It doesn't but I'll amuse you, if you stop calling me all those little redneck names you have for me then I'll start calling you Ms. Hart. Deal?" The donut box was back in front of her and they were almost tempting until she realized that the one thing she knew would irritate him was being taken away from her.

"You win this one, cowboy but I mean it with the basement and my room. Those are my private rooms meaning that no one, not even  _Isadora_  goes to those places. I hope we're on the same page on that." She said opening the door and gesturing for him to step out before her.

"Definitely. Now you'll accept my peace offering?" Lucas said as he was walking out the door and side stepped so he would be next to her when she stepped out.

"Hm, depends...did you buy the chocolate kind?"

* * *

The two took to the couch and Maya tried to distract her mind from thinking about Riley. Would her father and step mother want to throw her a coming home party? Would she have to go? Would the press make a huge deal out of it if she didn't?

The answer to all of those questions was probably yes solely because she knew her step mother loved Riley more than her and she knew that she'd have to go because the press were very aware of how close her and Riley were before she left to go to Europe. When Maya had moved in with her father at fifteen, she wasn't sure of much, she was in a brand new place filled with people who were materialistic and judgmental.

Riley stood out from all of them though and that's why the two had become so close, people had thought they'd known each other since they were little kids.

Another kid who was more brains then brawn had joined them and the trio had become famous around Hollywood for Riley's photography, Maya's art and his—

"Are you really going to watch this?" Lucas' voice appeared and stole her train of thought. Apparently she had subconsciously changed the channel and Twilight was playing on the TV and Lucas looked completely disgusted by it.

"What? Don't you want to see a beautiful love story unfold?" She teased and nearly laughed at how vigorously he shook his head and then focused his attention to his phone.

"I'd rather gouge my eyes out."

"Or you'd rather stare at your phone until it magically teleports Missy here in front of you? I don't know whether I think it's sad or not."

He turned and made a face, "You know what? I have a condition too, no talking about Missy while I'm working." Maya raised her hands in surrender before changing the channel again.

There were tons of movies on, Maya noted but her mind still was on Lucas. She should probably mind her business but he looked like he desperately needed help in the understanding women department.

"You know, you should just call her. I promise everything will become a little clearer talking it out." Maya mentally patted herself on the back for spreading such wisdom, it was a wonder why he was getting paid to help her when she was doing all the heavy lifting.

"I don't need advice, Maya." Lucas said without looking up at her.

"You clearly do. The truth is hard to hear but it needs to be said."

"We had a truce. I don't do things you don't like and you should do me the same courtesy."

Maya turned off the TV before turning her body completely to him and crossing her arms over his chest, "I'm completely aware of our truce, huckleberry but you staring at your phone is getting increasingly more pathetic and it just seems like you need a push in the right direction but if you want to ignore me then fine."

No one spoke for a few moments except there was no TV to fill the silence. Maya didn't make any moves to turn it on though, instead she started fooling around with her phone, tapping angrily at the screen.

"What's bothering you?" He asked suddenly.

"Nothing other than this annoying kid sitting next to me." She responded calmly while still looking at her phone.

He took a deep breath to try and calm the growing headache she was causing and said, "You really can't get mad at me for not wanting to share my problems when you won't even let me go with you to certain parts of the house."

"I'm already over it, cowboy. Just ignore what I said. It was probably just me acting like a crazy person like the media makes me out to be."

Was it wrong that she was upset? She tried giving him advice, being civil like their donut truce suggested and he brushed her off. And then he had the nerve to ask her what was bothering her. Him and Riley were neck and neck at the moment.

He scoffed and put his phone down, "Are you actually upset because I'm not listening to your advice? Are you saying that you'd take advice from me if I offered it?"

"Don't try to reverse physchology me, huckleberry. You and I are completely different, for one if I had a romantic issue like you, I would've done something about it the day it happened instead of waiting around for something to happen like you."

"I make stuff happen!"

"You don't have to prove yourself to me." She said and tried to hold back laughter at how riled up he was.

She must not have been as discreet as she thought because he sat back in his seat, Maya hadn't even realized how close they'd gotten, and shook his head with the ghost of a smile on his face,

"You got that one, Hart."

"Annoying you wasn't the plan though, I was being serious about what I said."

The humor was gone and he grew solemn, "Maya, it isn't about not wanting to take your advice, there are just some things that like you, I don't like talking about. And starting now Missy is officially a part of the don't ask list. Agreed?"

"Agreed." She answered warily, wondering if there was much more to the Texas boy than she thought.


	10. how's the weather down there?

**L** ucas didn't think the rest of the day could go on without a hitch but it did.

Mr. Hart had invited him to stay over for dinner again which he didn't mind since the Hart family were kind to him. Isadora's cooking also completely beat any quick pasta recipe he could cook up. Sometimes when he didn't know what to cook or he wanted something different, he would go over to Missy's and...

He stopped himself before his thoughts could get more sad.

It's been three days. He hasn't talked to her in three days which is the longest they've ever gone without talking. She was his best friend next to Zay, his more than platonic feelings aside. She was the first real girl friend that he's had and ruining it just felt so completely wrong to him.

But Missy hadn't responded to his calls and the text that Maya had seen was simply a rough draft that he never followed through with. He was starting to look desperate and it's only been three days.

Lucas shook his head as he continued his walk home and thought about the Hart family, once Mr. Hart sent Chief a glowing review about how he's taken care of his daughter, he'll be back at the precinct before he knew it. He didn't realize it three days ago in Chief's office but Kermit Hart had a persuasive hand in most things in the city. He had even begun the career of rising baseball star, Billy Ross. From what he saw on the news, he was being labeled 'The New Babe Ruth' and several teams wanted him to play for them.

And his daughter hadn't been so bad a few months ago when she was still in her right mind. His daughter hadn't been so bad today either, he thought in relief. He opened the front door to his apartment building and waved at the guy at the front desk before deciding to take the stairs to his apartment. Deciding to have a truce with Maya seemed like a good idea for the both of them. He didn't dread being around her, for one. In fact, today when the two of the sat on the couch in peace, he didn't mind it.

The only thing that he  _did_  mind was when she brought up,

Missy.

There she was standing in front of him in a large striped dress shirt and slacks that were so long that the hem was pooling around her feet. Her hair looked mildly tousled and she was grumbling while trying to unlock her door.

The shock of seeing her after a while must've impaired his ability to walk up the stairs because he tripped on the top step and nearly fell over. Lucas saw her jump before he was on the floor trying to recover quickly and not look like an idiot. When he looked up at her again she looked relaxed and was even smiling at him which struck Lucas as odd.

This was the girl that hadn't answered his calls in three days, the girl who left his apartment looking disappointed and a little hurt that her friend didn't want to share what was going on with him to her but she was smiling at him like she did when she bought the fur ball in his house, she was smiling like she did when him and Zay had asked her for directions on their first day in the city.

"Hey, Luke. How's the weather down there?" She said lightly before walking to help him up. He took her hand and on his way up, he could smell the expensive cologne wafting off her. It turned him off because he was so used to the sweet floral perfume she always wore and this contrasted it in the worst way. It seemed ridiculous but Lucas felt like he was looking at a different person.

"It's fine. I've been trying to call you." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Lucas had planned to be a bit more subtle with his trying to get a hold of her the past three days but his mouth and brain were clearly not on the same page.

Her smile fell as the took a step back from him, "Well, I've been a little busy."

Lucas couldn't help his eyes from wandering to her masculine choice of clothing before looking back up at her face and nodding, "I can see that."

The guilt couldn't have been more obvious on her face after he said it, "It's not that I didn't want to pick up though, Luke. It's just that I thought you were doing that thing where you try to make everything better the very second they're not good. Brandon said it would be good to give you space and think things through before we saw each other."

"Brandon? Who's Brandon?"

"This guy I met. He's been really insightful and great and he even helped me with my situation with you."

Lucas couldn't believe it. These past three days where he couldn't stop thinking about how he royally screwed everything up with her, she was out sleeping with some guy that seemed to help her 'understand' him. He couldn't have believed that Missy could be that naive. How could she think asking a stranger about their situation was more helpful then talking to him? How did she think  _sleeping_  with the stranger would help their situation?

"And his help includes changing clothes or does he give all his advice with a one night stand?" Once again, his mouth had escaped him and formed words that he couldn't have made sound more offensive.

Missy was livid. Long forgotten was the door she had been trying to open now her attention was completely on Lucas, "What? Do you think I'm a slut or something?"

"I didn't mean it like that, Missy and you know it."

"No, I don't. Because clearly anything I do doesn't live up to the mighty Lucas Friar. God forbid one of us actually is human and doesn't know what to do in certain situations then suddenly they're tainted, right? Tell me, does it get exhausting being a self righteous ass all the time?"

"I wasn't trying to be an ass, I was just trying to think about why you wouldn't just call me back so we could resolve everything."

"What did it matter? It was three days and I'm here now and the way that things are going, I think I should take another three day break."

Lucas scoffed, "You're unbelievable."

"Me? I come home after three days and you act like I've been gone three years and then have the audacity to stand there and judge me like a disappointed parent."

"I wouldn't judge you if what you were doing made sense."

Missy let out a dry laugh, "You think what I do doesn't make sense? You shut me out when I ask you something and then expect me to come running back to you the next day like what you did didn't bother me? I'm sorry that I wasn't waiting at your doorstep when you so clearly didn't want to tell me the truth, I'm sorry that I went out and tried to get my mind off the fact that you don't trust me!"

"I do trust you." He tried taking a step towards her but she stepped back. Lucas didn't know why he did it, she didn't look like she wanted anything to do with him at that moment.

"Bullshit. If you trust me, then tell me what happened that day?" Missy's anger faded away as her voice softened. Her brown eyes searched his for some type of answer that even after having their first real fight with each other, he wasn't willing to grant her. It seemed like she only gave him seconds to marvel how things would be if she knew the truth.

Would she treat him like a ticking time bomb and walk on eggshells? Would she be scared that he would hurt her? Would things stay the same?

The longing look for the truth disappeared as suddenly as it came and Missy was standing at her door again, shaking her head and trying to open the door again.

"Missy, I'm sorry."

Her door opened with a click and she stepped inside saying in a voice more hurt then she had been three days ago, "Me too, Lucas."

Lucas didn't know how long he stood there after she closed the door behind her but he let all of what just happened sink in. He just fought with Missy. The two of them never fought. Zay had even told him how strange their relationship was because of how mellow and calm it was.

He wouldn't believe what just happened right now even hearing it directly from Lucas himself.

And if Lucas was being honest with himself, he couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe that he said all those heat of the moment things to her, he couldn't believe that after three days of missing her, he goes and argues with her.

It was unfortunate that Lucas had such vivid memory because the image of Missy's saddened face had imprinted itself into his brain and refused to go away. That thought ran through the night as he stared up at his water stained ceiling, regret consuming him.


	11. the voice she'd been dreading to hear all day

**C** all it her brain searching for a distraction from Riley's homecoming but Maya didn't sleep much that night trying to search up things about the cowboy that was her caretaker. Everything other than his mild mannered attitude was a mystery to her? What did he do before he came to take care of her?

Her tactics had turned desperate after she googled his name and looked through five pages of everything but Lucas Friar.

She had broken into her dad's iCloud account to get his contacts to see but alas, nothing but his name and number. Maya even stepped out of her room in the morning and approached the lion's den that was the kitchen when her father and stepmother were inside.

Maya didn't acknowledge anyone in the room except Isadora who she sent a small smile before checking for something in the fridge, they had leftover steak from dinner before since Sophia refused to eat the meat because she saw some movie about slaughter houses at her friend, Ava's house that day. Her eyes lit up after finding the plate of steak covered in plastic wrap and she pulled it out of the fridge in delight.

Looking around the room though, there seemed to be something missing. With a sigh of relief, Maya realized her stepmother was nowhere to be seen, it was only her father who was staring intently at something on his phone while leaning against the kitchen counter and her younger sister, Sophia who was looking at herself on her phone at the dining table, an empty bowl of cereal in front of her.

What did she do to get so lucky?

"What are you on about now, Maya?" Her father said without looking up from his phone. She silently berated herself for thinking out loud in front of her least favorite person in her life.

"Nothing, just curious is all." She answered and tossed her plate in the microwave, startling Sophia. Her younger sister focused her icy blue eyes on Maya before going back to texting on her phone. From the corner of her eye, she could see her father lift his head from his phone and sigh defeatedly.

"Curious about what, Maya?"

She stood up a little straighter and tried to remain casual, "Well, since you hired such a professional babysitter to take care of me, I was just curious about his background is all."

"He's from Texas." Her father said bluntly.

"Well, no shit." Maya cringed the moment the words slipped from her mouth. Usually she wouldn't mind annoying her father with swearing in the house because he was a heartless piece of shit but today she was trying to play civilized daughter that he could share a little information with and swearing wouldn't get her anywhere so she tried to backtrack, "I mean, where he's from seemed really obvious the moment he started talking."

"Then what else is there to know?"

"Tons more. A person is more than just the place where they lived."

"Everything else you leave up to me, Maya. I'm not just gonna hire anyone to take care of you." He said with mock sincerity. He didn't give a single crap about Maya so why would he go through the trouble of hiring a professional? For all she knew, her father could've plucked Lucas from Texas and brought him here.

"Could've fooled me," She said under her breath quickly before speaking again, "But still, there isn't anything that I should know?"

"Why are you so interested in Lucas Friar?"

"Because Maya  _likes_  him." Sophia sang from the table and Maya wrinkled her nose in disgust.  _Like_  him? She had just learned to  _tolerate_  him. Her interest was purely because she was nosy.

"Shut up, Sophia. I don't like him."

"Sophia has a point, what other reason would you have for wanting to know?"

"Like I said before I was just curious. Sue me." She said and the microwave beeped indicating her food was ready. Maya took her plate and made her way up the stairs more frustrated and annoyed than she had twenty minutes before.

* * *

Maya's day was not going as planned.

Her spy skills had dwindled down to nothing since the last time she's used them and her father had revealed absolutely nothing about Lucas Friar that she hadn't known already. She needed something juicy, she needed something to relieve her curiosity. She needed something so shocking that her brain didn't flit over to Riley and the time her flight was arriving.

She sat in her room with greasy hands because she'd forgotten a fork for her steak and her thoughts on an endless race for some way to find out more about Lucas.

Her brain was drawing blanks at this point but she refused to fall back on her thoughts of Riley, it would just make her angry and sad again. But just as she was giving herself a pep talk, a knock sounded at her door.

"Isadora." Maya said and it sounded like a question.

"Don't look too happy to see me. I just came to tell you that Lucas is downstairs." She said and raised an eyebrow at her. Maya probably looked insane now that she thought about it. She didn't comb her hair when she got out of bed because she was too focused on what was Lucas' deal and she most likely had bits of steak still in her teeth.

"And that asshole couldn't use his legs and come tell me that himself?"

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. But if we're being honest, he walked in today and looked pretty down." Isadora whispered the last bit even looking over her shoulder to make sure no one else was listening in.

Suddenly intrigued Maya leaned in and whispered back, "Do you know why?"

"No idea. But at least that means he'll be a little more passive on making you do certain things, right?"

Or, Maya thought, he would be more open to revealing what was bothering him so much, even though Maya could already take an educated guess on what could be bothering him so much and it began with the letter M.

"Right." Maya agreed before Isadora turned and walked down the stairs. An idea suddenly popped into her head as she shut her bedroom door, it was amazingly perfect she wondered why her brain hadn't dealt her this hand earlier.

Half an hour later, she looked more put together than she had in months. She hadn't gone all out but applied mascara to her lashes, some concealer to her spots and some nude lipstick. She needed to keep things casual but nice. Her distressed denim jeans were calling her name so she put those on with white converse and a white muscle tee.

Her hair was a lost cause so she tossed all of it on top of her head in a quick bun. One quick look in the mirror and she nearly scared herself. The makeup reminded her of herself before the incident. A time where she wanted to look nice and wasn't so sad all the time. Maya glanced at the reflection of her journal on her bed.

She hadn't followed her usual pattern of naming five good things in her life and five bad things today. All she wrote was:

_Riley is coming home._

It seemed to take up both the good and the bad parts places because Maya's mind couldn't think of anything else and tried to think of everything else.

And her everything else is still waiting downstairs sulking. Maya took one last look at her reflection before making her way downstairs to where Lucas was sitting on the couch staring at the black screen of his phone.

"Hey, huckleberry." She said loud to get his attention. Slowly, he rose his head and looked exhausted. There were bags under his eyes, his blonde hair wasn't gelled into its usual neat spikes and his clothes were wrinkled but Maya suspects that his shirts are never ironed.

"I'm not really in the mood today, Maya. I just want today to be over with already." He said in a defeated tone. It may be a little strange for her to find it weird hearing him sound so down since she'd only met him three days ago but in Lucas already had a strong image in her head, a mysterious one but nonetheless a strong one and it didn't sound right hearing him talk like that.

"Well, let's put you in the mood. I thought we should have a change of scenery." It was then that his eyes seemed to take in her attire. Albeit, she shouldn't be offended at the mild shock on his face on her looking presentable but still, she didn't look like that bad  _all_  the time, did she?

"What are you talking about?"

"I was thinking that we should go check out the boardwalk. Besides, I've been cooped up in this house way too long and need some fresh air."

He gave her a strange look, "And there wouldn't be any other reason for you wanting to go out, right?"

"Of course not. I just thought that it was a nice day and we should get out. So, let's go." She grabbed his hand and tried pulling him off the couch but he stayed planted there. Maya rolled her eyes before turning around to look at him.

"C'mon cowboy, a party of one is no fun." She pouted and hoped that would convince him. Lucas looked more like he'd given up on trying to convince her and let her drag him to the door after that.

* * *

She decided that Coney Island was always a safe choice. The atmosphere of kids laughing and sweet smelling cotton candy made everybody feel comfortable and most of all trusting towards others which is what Maya's mission was that day.

All the games and rides planted ideas in her head on how she could make him talk. She had to be clever because he continued to be suspicious as they got on the train over here, asking her questions like, "What made you want to go out today?" or "Is there any special reason that you wanted to leave your house?"

But then an overly excited voice caught her attention, "Step right up, pretty lady. C'mon big guy, come and win her something nice." The man was lanky and pale but had a glowing smile on his face directed at her and Lucas. People passed the two of them, minding their own business and Maya realized that she should've followed their lead because now she was stuck looking at the man pondering on whether or not to play the game.

It was a water shooting race game, Maya remembered fondly that it was one of her favorite games to play when her mom would bring her to the boardwalk.

Maya hadn't noticed that Lucas stepped in front of her and was talking to the guy until Lucas was reaching into his pocket to fish out money.

"So, I guess you want to play?" She said and took a seat beside him while the guy went to put the money away.

"Well, you drag me to the boardwalk randomly and refuse to tell me the real reason you brought me here so I figured that I might as well enjoy it. Play me, Hart, a party of one is no fun, right?"

She eyed him and then Mr. Smiles as he came back to the two of them then focused on the situation as a whole. Lucas was talking to her in what she considered a competitive attitude and if she played her cards right, she could turn their little competition into a confession session and get the information she needs without breaking a sweat.

He was handing her a gift and who was she to refuse?

"You're absolutely right, huckleberry." Maya smiled at him before putting her finger on the trigger and leaned in close, feigning focus on what she was doing.

Lucas chuckled, "Sounds weird hearing you say that but I'll take it. I'll even make sure to go easy on you." Easy was how he was making her interrogation of him.

She scoffed and shook her head, "You're too kind."

Mr. Smiles started the game and Maya didn't even try to align her water to the target. Lucas was too into the game to notice that she was completely throwing the game to make sure that he won. The only one who saw it was Mr. Smiles who was looking at her in confusion. To be fair, it did look strange to see someone just not try at all to win.

A ding sounded signifying that Lucas won and he jumped out of seat with his hands raised up high in victory. Maya had to make sure to hide the grin on her face seeing how proud he was of himself. Mr. Smiles gestured to the rack of stuffed animals they had and Lucas chose a large obnoxiously pink colored gorilla.

"Don't worry, Maya," He said noting her frown, "Best two out of three, I'll even throw in the gorilla." He was so arrogant and unsuspecting of what she was doing it made her want to laugh. But she kept her composure and pretended to look offended.

"I don't need a pity competition, huckleberry. Besides, if you think you're so good then let's make the game a little more interesting. If I win a game, you tell a secret and if you win, I tell a secret. And since you won already, here's my secret: I don't know how to swim."

"But you take us to a beach. Your way of thinking will always amaze me, Hart." He took his seat again and fished out more money for the two of them to play. Once she saw Mr. Smiles go towards the button to start the game, she sat up a little straighter and put all her focus on hitting the target. The game started her hand grasped the gun firmly making sure it hit the target perfectly. Her finger didn't let go of the trigger until she heard the ding moments later.

She had won.

The look on Lucas' face so much of a prize in itself that she almost denied getting the stuffed animal.

"Which one?" Mr. Smiles asked looking thoroughly impressed with Maya in that moment. She rose from her seat and decided on the banana that had a face and its tongue sticking out. It only would look right with her gorilla. After pointing to it, Mr. Smiles brought it to her and Maya pulled it to her chest before looking over at Lucas who was still gaping.

"How?" Was all that came out of his mouth.

"Just lucky, I guess. C'mon cowboy, you can go buy me a hot dog to congratulate me." She beamed at him before grabbing his hand and pulling him and her gorilla towards Nathan's.

The smell of hot dogs shouldn't make her smile so much but she couldn't help it. Maya remembered coming here for the first time as a kid and eating a Nathan's hot dog and how her mom said, "After you have a hot dog from here, nothing will compare."

She was right of course, Nathan's had become a staple in her life and after being in the lifestyle she lived now she craved something to remind her of who she used to be before everything happened four years ago.

"You hustled me, didn't you?" Lucas' voice interrupted her thoughts and she turned to face him. He was eyeing her suspiciously like what he was looking at right now was an illusion.

"What?"

"That little act with not knowing how to play, that was all it was, right? An act?" He looked like he really wanted the truth and Maya was already prepared to frustrate him by lying the whole day but thought it'd be more fun to see him annoyed that he got played.

"Yep and you fell for it pretty easily. So, you owe me that gorilla," She looked at it dangling from under his arm, "and a secret. Those were the rules."

"Those were the rules before I realized that I walked out with a con artist."

"Save the waterworks, heehaw. I merely made sure that the situation benefited me, that's not being a con artist."

"That's literally what a con artist does, Maya." The two stopped in the line for Nathan's that Maya was surprised to find wasn't as long as she was anticipating.

"Quit being such a sore loser, it's an unattractive quality. Now, I'll take one chili dog and a lemonade  _and_  my prize." She said and took the gorilla without even waiting for him to give her permission to take it.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Maya rolled her eyes before answering tiredly, "To find us a table, huckleberry. Standing up and eating with all this stuff in my hand would be a little difficult." She set off to find them a table and ended up getting the farthest one from Lucas where he was standing in line.

Go figure.

Time went by quickly as Maya slipped back into her nostalgic thoughts. She remembered her mom taking her by the water and it being so cold she screamed bloody murder. She forced her mom to sit in the sun with her for an hour until she could feel her feet again right after.

She remembered telling Riley about Coney Island and how much of a wonderful place it was. Due to Riley's sheltered upbringing, she never got to experience all that Coney Island had to offer and Maya remembered her offering to take her one day.

Now she was back here, friendless and broken. Not to mention her never ending curiosity had brought a guy she met three days ago to one of her favorite places. Her life  _was_  a mess.

"Here's your food, your majesty," Lucas put the tray on the table and Maya's mouth watered, "Will there be anything else?"

She grabbed her hot dog and nodded, "One secret was the deal so pay up." She took a huge bite of it not caring about the chili hanging around her mouth or the strange look Lucas had given her before sighing,

"What kind of secret do I tell?"

"It could be anything. Deep, dark secret or just like something that I don't know." Maya was going to add, "like your profession" but decided that would be too straight forward and then he would get suspicious and hound her with questions as to why she wants to know.

"Alright," He looked around and thought about it, "I fell of a sheep when I was five."

Maya covered her mouth to keep the hot dog from falling out because she was laughing so much. She knew he wouldn't immediately give her what she wanted, their game didn't end with water racing game. But it did start their little trading of facts and secrets which was fine especially when he was willing to admit his weird redneck experience as a kid.

Who rode sheep?

"It's not funny, Maya! It was traumatizing."

"Oh I bet," She said after swallowing her food, "Why exactly were you riding the sheep?"

"I'm not telling."

"What? Why?"

"Because our deal was secrets not explanations for the secrets. I didn't ask why you never learned how to swim even though I should've because your dad is loaded and you could've had the best instructor."

Maya crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes, "You're no fun, huckleberry."

"Why? Because I won't tell you stuff about my life? What's the sudden interest anyway?" He leaned forward with a smile that Maya could only describe as checkmate. He was dissecting what she was doing and it worried her.

"Can't I just want to know who this man that stepped into my life three days ago really is? Is that a crime now?" She was impressed with how convincingly she played the part of innocently curious.

Lucas looked down at his drink and shook his head, "No. I just thought, there's a bunch more games here and I have plenty of things I could tell you about me. So, what do you say?"

Maya eyed him before finishing her hot dog, "Are you saying that you're going to willingly tell me your dirty laundry?"

"Only if you manage to beat me in all of these games. And I'm just saying now that I play to win."

"We'll see about that, sundance. I'm a veteran at these games."

* * *

Maya had won three games while Lucas won four and as a way to make things more interesting, Maya said they should ride the cyclone until one of them felt sick. After Lucas got off feeling dizzy, the two decided it was time to head back but not before Maya brought up how Lucas cheated during their competition.

"I did not!" He said as the train came to their fifth stop.

"I had the basketball in my hand and you smacked it. How is that not cheating?"

"You put the basketball in my line of vision and I had to hit or I would've missed."

"You know who says stuff like that?"

"Who?"

"Cheaters."

Lucas made a face and huffed. He looked annoyed but then again he seemed to have that expression whenever he didn't have his way, for example anytime that Maya beat him at a game he was sure that he was good at. His eyebrows would furrow and he would purse his lips, he looked like a child about to throw a tantrum. She took mental note that whenever he made said face that she had won their little banter.

The train was silent and Maya let her mind drift back to Riley, the first time she's done it since her and Lucas got off the train. Her flight was supposed to have landed while Maya was with Lucas playing games. Were they throwing a party for her while Maya was sitting on the train? Did she miss her?

"I didn't learn how to tie my shoes until I was thirteen." He said abruptly from beside her. Her thoughts of Riley faded as her curiosity about her caretaker deepened.

"You didn't know how to tie your shoes until you were thirteen? How did you ever herd your cattle?" She joked and he tried to hide his smile. It was at that time that Maya noticed the change in how he looked. His hair was still a mess but the sullen look he wore getting off the train now just looked highly amused and she would never voice it but the latter looked much better on him.

"All these nicknames are going to start hurting my rep. I only told you that because you keep calling me a cheater."

"What–" The train pulled to another stop and something hit the floor. Quickly, Maya checked her pockets to make sure her phone and keys were still there then she looked at Lucas who seemed just as confused as her and after that their eyes fell on the small silver recorder on the floor. The red light was still on signifying that it was still recording and Maya's stomach churned.

Her blue eyes found the hand that reached down for it in the flurry of people and she found a woman in her mid thirties looking back at her with a look she grew familiar with through her scandals over the past three months. The curious look, the fancy clothes and right underneath her brown blazer was a name tag that Maya looked past to see the place the woman worked for, Us Weekly.

There was a reporter on the train with them. How long had there been a reporter on the train with them? Had she been listening in on their conversation the whole time? The vulnerable feeling that she'd managed to flee from for weeks was back and the playful feeling that was in the air became suffocating.

Maya jumped up from her seat without a word and got off the train not even noticing Lucas was on her heels shouting her name. Only when he grabbed her wrist and spun her to face him did she realize where she was.

"What was that? We're not even close to being back at your place."

"I just couldn't be in that train with her. Sorry." She said while looking at the train move past them. Lucas followed her eyes and found the blur of the train moving then looked back at her.

"Did you know that woman on the train?"

Maya wanted to laugh. She didn't have to know the woman to know what she was doing, "I know of people like her and they're the reason that I stopped going out on a frequent basis. It's like having a parole officer." Lucas furrowed his eyebrows and looked so completely lost as to what she was talking about and if she wasn't so irritated and exposed she might've appreciated the effort to understand. "That woman on the train was recording us, huckleberry. And I don't even know how long she was sitting there eavesdropping."

"What's the big deal? I sometimes eavesdrop when people talk."

"The big deal?!" She practically yelled, "The big deal is that she's a journalist for Us Weekly, a magazine that I know has always had a thing for talking shit about me. Even when the world didn't think I was a basket case." She meant to say the last part under her breath so she didn't look completely pathetic but judging by Lucas' concerned face she hadn't done a very good job.

"Hey, maybe she got less than what you think. Besides, you didn't say anything incriminating on the train, it'll be fine."

"No it won't. You don't know these people like I do. Even if they have a little bit of information on you they'll take it and turn it into something horrible."

"How bad could it possibly be? We were just talking on the train."

"You don't get it." She scoffed and realized that he was still holding her wrist. Maya pulled her hand away from him and walked towards the bench, entirely irritated.

The station didn't have many people besides them on it and the people that were there didn't pay their feud much mind. Lucas debated whether he should follow her and hesitated for a moment before walking over to her and taking a seat.

"Explain it to me." He said to her and when she didn't react he worried that he said it too low. Then she raised her head to look at the tracks and he could've sworn he saw her eyes were watery for a second.

She took a deep breath before speaking, "It's hard knowing that you're a piece of shit without arrogant journalists pointing it out on paper for you." Just as Lucas opened his mouth to tell her that she shouldn't think so lowly of herself, the train pulled up and Maya was up before he could even get the words out.

They were silent for the rest of the train ride back.

Maya didn't think her day could get worse after seeing the journalist on the train and her mouth betraying her and telling her things she usually categorized as things you keep to yourself. All she could think about was crawling into her bed and avoiding everyone for a while. Lucas hadn't tried to talk to her on the train or on their walk back which she was grateful for.

She didn't need a lecture, she needed much needed rest. It was nine when she checked her phone when they turned on her block so her family was probably getting ready for bed so she could easily sneak past without trouble. Her plans were foiled however when she could see the lights in the rooms on. Why was everything not going her way today?

When they came to her doorstep, she decided lying was the best way to go out so a lie about Lucas wanting to take her out on such a beautiful day started to form before she put the key in the door and opened it. The story that had just taken form in her head disappeared the moment she heard the voice she'd been dreading to hear all day.

Sitting on her couch chatting it up with Isadora and a glass of champagne in her hand was Riley.


	12. peaches!

**W** hat was Lucas expecting when he saw a girl sitting on the couch talking to Isadora? She looked important from the way she dressed, black dress pants with a white collared shirt tucked in. Her chocolate brown hair hit her shoulders and they framed her now concerned face. Since she looked harmless he expected, possibly a quick greeting from Maya who had been quiet the whole train ride and walk home, Lucas would probably speak to her to stall from having to go to his apartment where he was scared he would run into Missy.

Even though Maya was unaware of it, he had been grateful to her for bringing him a distraction from his mind that wouldn't seem to stop thinking about how he royally screwed stuff up with one of the most important people in his life. And up until the two got off the train after running into that reporter, the day had been a much needed one. After his incident at work, nothing in his life had been proving to make him happy.

"Stay the hell away from me, Riley!" Immediately, Lucas was reminded on what he'd been thinking about before Missy. Maya and the girl, Riley who was now standing up. Lucas hadn't expected Maya to be so angry at seeing someone sit on the couch, maybe if that person had taken the form of her father it would've made more sense but this girl looked harmless.

She was thin and before Maya had begun to yell at her, she looked extremely happy to see her. Riley had put down her glass of champagne and rose from her seat with open arms exclaiming, "Peaches!"

That was apparently the cue for Maya to throw whatever was closest to her which at the time had been her phone at Riley who dodged it like they rehearsed the whole thing. He heard the phone hit the floor and cringed.

Fixing that wouldn't be cheap.

"Maya, calm down!" She said being awfully courageous and taking a step towards Maya. He saw the blonde beside him eye the steps probably estimating the amount of time it would take for her to make it to there without someone interfering.

"Don't come any closer Riley or I swear!" But Lucas didn't think Riley believed her because there she took yet another step towards Maya who was probably thinking of something else to throw at her.

Riley took another and Lucas surely thought that the champagne had gotten to her head. He wasn't particularly afraid of Maya since she looked frail and was about five feet tall but it didn't matter the stature of the person when they had great aim.

Then before Lucas could warn Riley again mentally, Maya made a mad dash for the steps but surprisingly, Riley was just as fast and tackled her to the ground. All he needed to hear were muffled grunts and the sound of Riley's bracelets jingling to realize that the two were fighting.

Isadora got to Riley before he could so he was left to contain Maya when she was thrashing around trying to take off her shoe to throw at Riley. Either he  _really_  underestimated Isadora's strength or Riley hadn't been putting up much of a fight to be torn away from Maya. Both girls looked out of breath, Lucas guessed this was probably the first time they've fought physically with each other.

Yet, Maya looked pissed off and Riley looked concerned.

Isadora broke the silence first, "C'mon, Ms. Matthews. I'll escort you out." And she proceeded to lead Riley towards the door while Maya finally relaxed in his arms. He hadn't realized that he had covered her so completely until he pulled away and she stepped out of the dome that was his embrace.

Only after the door closed behind Riley did Maya speak.

"You are not to let her in this house anymore, do you understand Isadora?" She said solemnly. Blonde hair was falling from her bun and tickling her shoulder as she said it and it was around that time that Lucas first felt curiosity nestle in his brain. For the first time, he was curious about Maya's life. The research he'd done before hand was merely so he didn't go in blindly but watching Maya argue with someone that wasn't her father was different.

Who was Riley and why had she come to the house if she knew they were going to fight?

Unless she didn't know at all.

"Maya, what was that about?" He asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about, huckleberry." Maya said nothing else before ascending the stairs and going into her room. Isadora squeaked a, "Good night, Lucas." before following Maya up the stairs.

If that wasn't a dismissal then Lucas didn't know what was. He secretly wanted to know what Isadora was possibly going to do to calm Maya down. Lucas shook his head as he headed to the door, he shouldn't care about what's going on upstairs, he should be more concerned with what's going in his own life.

* * *

On the way home, he answered the messages Zay had text him back from this morning. Zay's messages read:

**you and missy are fighting AGAIN?! what the hell man?**

**you moped for three days straight hoping just to hear her breathe and now you're fighting?**

**you're more confusing than vanessa**

His friend couldn't do his job at reminding him of the obvious any better if he tried. Lucas typed:

**i know zay but you should've seen how unaffected she looked when she saw me. i was happy to see her and she treated me like i was one of those guys from her job she always talks about...her stupid fan boys. i had a right to be mad, zay!**

His pride had officially kicked in and he was through with being pathetic. Spending the day with Maya opened his eyes that he's only been worried about Missy when it's become very clear that Missy cared about no one but herself. Lucas should only care about the way that he phrased things with her, he shouldn't be worried about how she's doing or if she's happy with that Brandon guy.

None of that should matter.

Lucas sighed before deleting the message he typed, it did matter to him. Missy mattered a lot and it hurt to think that he didn't matter just the same to her. He couldn't sleep just thinking about how he'd actually gone and said all of those things to her. Sure, coney island helped. Being with Maya helped but not entirely. It was fun joking around with her and acting like the two of them were great friends but deep down it reminded him of his great friend that he could laugh with and talk with.

Being with Maya felt so easy that it reminded him of being with Missy and it hurt. He looked down at his phone and breathed a laugh. How could he put all that into words that Zay wouldn't call him out for?

 **i know i screwed up but i don't know a way to fix it** _,_ Lucas decided was a safe response. No mention of spending the day with Maya and enjoying it was involved, he was safe from what he knew would be Zay's endless teasing.

On his way into the apartment, he made sure to keep his eyes trained on his door instead of wandering to next door. Inside waiting for him were the beers he didn't clear off and the little puff ball cat who was curled up by the couch. He looked over at the makeshift eating area he'd made for her (he was assuming because he really didn't have the time to go check) one of the cereal bowls he had still had the dry cereal he'd put inside for her.

The bowl wasn't completely full like it had been before meaning she ate which also meant that she took a crap somewhere. As he was walking over to the couch to sit, his boot found it. He looked down as the cat meowed and cringed.

He really loved these boots.

[*]

Washing his boots in the sink had given him time to think on his situation with Missy. If he gave her space and tried doing things that would distract him, everything would be easier. Missy was able to do it for three days and made no big deal out of seeing him again and if their paths cross three days from now then he would be just as casual.

He was going to try and stick to that resolution for the sake of keeping the dignity of their friendship. Unable to make it to his room due to exhaustion, he plopped down on his couch, the cat following in his wake, and drifted asleep.

* * *

His mornings were never that hectic. Since he stopped having to go to the precinct, he's been able to just get up around ten and make his way to the Hart Manor with no problem, all he had to do was chuck something presentable on, make sure that the cat had food for the day and he was gone.

In a nutshell his mornings never resulted in him being woken up by his loud ass ringtone. Lucas' eyes flew open as he jumped up, resulting in the cat getting knocked to the floor, and he searched for his phone that was on the counter by the sink. He rushed over to find who was calling him was Chief.

He cleared his throat before answering, "Hello?" He should've expected some hostility on the other end of the phone. Never in the history of Lucas working at his specific precinct was his boss ever nice to him. There were instances like five days ago where he would pay attention to him but in the worst situations possible, so Lucas wasn't sure why he thought he was talking to someone friendly on the phone but he was very shocked to hear a loud voice answer him.

"Are you playing with me, Friar? Do you think being an officer is some joke?"

"Huh?" Was his unintelligent response. To be fair, he had woken up just a moments ago.

"The fucking tabloids, Friar, keep up. Your face is on it with Maya Hart's and can you guess the headline?" He shouted into the phone and Lucas pulled it away flinching.

"Innocent bystander talks to Maya Hart?"

There was silence and he hoped desperately that Chief knew he was just joking, "You're hilarious, Friar. Truly a riot. I hope your back up job isn't stand up."

Lucas sighed, "What about the headline, sir?"

"It says that you're her mystery guy. It says that you two were  _very_  friendly on the train, I didn't send you there because I was playing matchmaker, Friar. I sent you there as a favor to a close friend of mine."

Wait, what? Mystery guy?  _He_  was Maya Hart's mystery guy? So, even seeing a glimpse of the lady on the train resulted just as Maya said it would, he thought to himself. Then something else took up his thoughts altogether...if his Chief who knew just as much as Lucas when it came to pop culture, saw the tabloid.

That meant Maya must've seen it too.


	13. try saying that ten times fast

**F** or once, Maya wished she wasn't right. Of all things to be right about like that her stepmother's plastic surgery was noticeable, that her younger sister was going to fail at life if she kept doing nothing at school, that if her father kept treating her like crap eventually karma would come and bite him in the ass, none of those things is what she happened to be right about.

She stared at a picture of her and Lucas on the train. She'd been even more right than she thought, the woman even had time to take a picture of them while Maya wasn't looking and it made her even angrier. How careless was she to think she could just walk out of the house without anyone taking notice? As if her problems weren't bad enough with Riley making a surprise appearance at her house or sending her over a tuna melt because she knew she liked them.

The sandwich sat on her dresser because she'd like to think that the tabloid headline had distracted her from doing so. That was the only reason that it was still there in her room making her mouth water.

"Are you alright, Ms. Hart?" Isadora said from the door and Maya was reminded that she was still there. She'd rushed upstairs with the tabloid in hand shoving it Maya's face for her to read, Maya would've thought that she would've went back downstairs to go clean or cook. If she wasn't so upset, she'd probably thank Isadora for caring so much to stay and make sure she was okay.

"No I'm not, Isadora. Everyone thinks that that mild mannered farm boy is my next victim or 'mystery guy' as they liked to call him. And the worst part is their trying to make it sound like it's such a good thing that they 'just happened' to catch us on the train," Maya snorted and shook her head before crumbling up the paper Isadora gave her, "Those people don't know anything."

"Well, how about some breakfast to lift your spirits a little? I made french toast." She sang from the door in hopes that Maya would be interested. Nothing could make her get out of bed that day, it was just a lot easier to stay under blankets where nothing could hurt her. Not the tabloids, not her father, not ranger rick or even that monster she refused to name from three months ago.

Her eyes looked to the tuna melt that she thought could still be warm since it hasn't been there long. Maya shook her head and burrowed deeper into her bed, the pillows guarding the sides of her head, she wouldn't let her stomach betray her not for french toast or for a tuna melt.

Isadora took her head shake as a no to her question as well so she sent Maya a small smile before going downstairs back to the kitchen.

Her eyes were open and trained on her plain white ceiling, wondering how everything had turned to shit. She even thought about writing in her journal since she felt like she's been slacking as of late. Then there was a weight that shifted the bed and dented the part of the mattress by her feet.

"Maya, listen up." He grabbed her ankle and shook it. She should've expected him to be harsh even if she was actually sleeping but it still surprised her, he was such an ass all the time, she'd thought he'd stop once and a while to take a rest.

"What do you want?" She said annoyed. The good thing about their mutual dislike for each other was that Maya didn't have to try and be polite like she wasn't seething at him touching her or him being near her.

"Would it hurt to speak a little nicer to your father?"

"I will, if you see him give me a call."

Her dad sighed deeply before holding up the most annoying thing she's seen all day, that damn tabloid, "Do you know what this is?" She almost fell back into her bed after sitting up to look at him and mostly get any part of her body away from him.

"I have a feeling you're going to tell me."

"This is the opportunity we've been waiting for." He grinned and Maya suddenly felt sick. Her father looked like Christmas had come early.

"W-What do you mean?" She choked out the words feeling nausea and anger well up inside as she watched her father show her the front of it and point to the headline.

"All these reporters have been saying ridiculous things about your health and that you're unstable. It's been who knows how long since they've said something positive, this will you give you a chance to show them you're completely fine."

Did he not see how furious she was just having the discussion with him? Did he not realize how insane he sounded and this was coming from someone who is practically the poster child for crazy. How could after everything that happened, he thought she was completely fine?

"And what if I'm not?" She lifted a brow to challenge him but he rolled his eyes and began to fold the tabloid up.

"Quit being dramatic, Maya. Don't ruin opportunities that don't come along all the time."

She let out a dry laugh, "Opportunities? You call talking to a boy an opportunity?! Is that the reason you hired him? So you could play matchmaker and make it look like your daughter wasn't crazy anymore? Was it so you wouldn't have to hear the mouths of those idiotic men you call your colleagues? Hell, you probably came with the fucked up idea all on your own, right?" Maya was yelling and clutching onto her blankets unable to hold in how impossible her father was.

She couldn't believe one person would go through so much trouble to screw up her life even more. He stood up and put the tabloid in his pant pocket before directing his eyes at her and they looked almost as angry as Maya felt.

"Watch how you talk about the people who helped bring you to the top! They did me favors helping you and I won't screw them over by letting you ruin it! I didn't set the Friar boy up with you for kicks, you needed looking after so I asked for another favor for you. Instead of throwing a tantrum all the time, you should be thanking me! So, you're going to do as I say as a sign of gratitude. You're going to go along with the rumors that you're dating Lucas because it's doing nothing but benefit you and if you choose not to listen to me, I promise you you'll regret it." He said with conviction before leaving her room.

Only seconds after his shaggy blonde head of hair was out of her line of vision did she grab her pillow and throw it at where he was standing moments ago. It hit the wall before hitting the floor and she felt tears on the brink of falling down her cheek. She couldn't burst into tears here though, it was open to people coming in like Isadora or Lucas or even her monster of a father.

Maya rose from her bed, making sure her shorts didn't ride up and then made her way to the basement where she wouldn't keep any of her emotions to herself.

* * *

It was great how well she knew herself at this point.

Throwing paint at one of the canvas' that she painted for her gallery was her way of flipping her father off. He paid for all her supplies after all and he was the one who would judge whether her paintings were worthy of making it into her gallery. This one in particular irritated her to no end. It was just a sunflower sitting in a field of grass.

There was nothing interesting about it and she hated how she didn't feel anything looking at it. When they were hanging it up in the gallery, she remembered thinking it was probably the worst thing she's ever painted. Everything she's ever believed, she was told was wrong by her father who could obviously care less about her.

She dipped her brush into the open container of blue paint she had on her long wooden table by the stairs and flung the paint at the painting she had leaned up against the wall. She grinned at the splat of cobalt blue that had gotten on the gray wall, maybe it was just because she liked having stuff look out of order especially in a house where everything has to be immaculate.

It helped when she thought of her stepmother's face if she saw that Maya got paint on the wall.

And then, "Maya? Are you down here?" The stairs creaked under the weight of the cowboy who didn't know how to follow directions. Her heart leapt at the sound of his voice so close, she made it to the foot of the steps but he was already there, a step away from her with his arms out and his hands searching for a surface...

And a flannel around his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing, huckleberry?"

"I'm trying to make sure you're okay while staying true to our truce." He breathed a laugh, "Try saying that ten times fast."

"You shouldn't be down here, especially because you didn't knock and instead just barged in like you own the place." She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. She wasn't in the mood for southern charm.

"I heard noise down here and wanted to make sure everything was fine. I even made sure I wouldn't see anything when I came down here." He said and gestured to the flannel on his face like Maya hadn't noticed it before.

"Well, I'm glad. Now, can you leave?"

"Wait, I want to make sure you're okay, Maya. Have you heard the news?" Lucas said tentatively like she was on the verge of blowing up on him.

"Unfortunately. Apparently you're my mystery guy."

He chuckled nervously and fidgeted with his fingers, "Look I know that this isn't what you wanted—" She cut him off before he could continue with his sympathetic speech simply because sympathy wasn't what she needed, she needed to let out some bottled up frustration.

"No, it isn't because I didn't want the media to be in my business anymore and then god forbid I go out and stop moping for a little, they're right back at it. And then let's not forget that my fucked up father told me that this is  _all_  a good thing. I should be happy the media is interested in my life and thinks I'm getting better..." She felt a lump in her throat and she tried to hold her breath, there was no way in hell she was gonna cry in front of him.

"Maya?" He said and felt for the wall and took another step down towards the bottom where she was looking up at him. She willed the tears to go away but to no avail as Lucas took the final step off the stairs and stood in front of her. "Maya, it's gonna be alright."

"No, it's not." Her voice came out hoarse and even to her own ears she sounded distraught.

"What do you mean?" He asked softly.

Maya inhaled a shaky breath before continuing, "Like I'm completely aware that to everyone else I'm some crazy teen and to my dad I'm just a thing he needs fixed and that  _stupid_  article is supposedly gonna make all the shit people have been giving him go away. But what happens to me? I'm still here feeling like crap. You were right, I am an empty shell of a person." A tear hit her cheek and she wiped it away, annoyed.

Everything really did have to be horrible today, for the first time since he stepped in the room, Maya was grateful that he couldn't see anything. He wouldn't know how utterly weak she actually was and he wouldn't have to give her pity eyes she used to receive years ago. And he definitely wouldn't know that her tears seemed never ending.

Then Lucas did something she wasn't expecting at all, he reached his hands out in search of her, first finding her shoulders before pulling her towards him. She hit his chest with a small, "Oh." and kept her arms at her sides. She blames the fact that no one has hugged her in a long time to her warming up to his hug so quickly.

His arms were around her shoulders keeping her tight to his chest and he mumbled from the top of her head, "I didn't mean any of it, Maya."

She was full on sobbing into his shirt now but she stopped caring after he pulled her into his arms, "D-Don't try to make me feel better."

"I'm being honest. I had no right to say that to you."

"N-No, you didn't." She said into his chest.

Maya could feel his chest shake as he let out a light chuckle, "I know. It's gonna be alright, Maya." He began to run the pad of his thumb over her sleeve covered shoulder and the strange part of it was that she didn't feel like pulling away. She tried to find the logic behind her not wanting to end their embrace like how she should've felt suffocated in his arms but didn't.

Question marks kept popping up in her head as her breathing evened out but before she could think up an answer, there was a knock on the door that seemed so loud and sudden that it made Lucas let her go and sucked away any moment the two of them had.

"Y-Yes?" Maya shouted while keeping her eyes on Lucas.

"It's Isadora, I just wanted to tell you two that lunch is ready if you're hungry." Her friend said from the other side of the door. There was silence for a moment before Lucas cracked a crooked smile and put out the hand that had caressed her shoulder.

"Well? I can't make it back up the stairs without help."

It took her a minute to register that he wanted her to lead him up the stairs and she shook her head, wishing away her ridiculous questions about what just happened, "Right." And she dropped her small hand in his larger one and led him back up the stairs, the place of normalcy.


	14. it wasn't crazy that he wanted to comfort her

**H** e might've royally screwed up or did something good. At the moment sitting in the kitchen with Maya, listening to the slur of Spanish words coming from the living room where Isadora was cleaning, Lucas wasn't sure. Neither of them said anything once they got upstairs and he was more than happy to rip the damn flannel off his face. Just as he expected, the very brief part that Maya had let him see of her face showed all the evidence that she had been crying.

If he was honest, he wasn't sure what came over him in the basement. Hearing Maya not be the Maya she showed him was odd, almost as odd as him trying to hug her.

Was it a pity hug? He didn't think so. Sure, once he walked in the house and found that Maya wasn't in her room or in the living room, he had to ask Isadora who flooded him with details about everything that happened before he got there.

_"I wouldn't normally do this unless I was really worried about Ms. Hart, which I am." She explained quickly looking at their surroundings even though it was only the three of them in the house._

_"Alright, what happened?" He asked suddenly worried that she might've done something after seeing the tabloid._

_"Well," Isadora leaned in closer and spoke a little lower, "I heard shouting coming from her bedroom and then Mr. Hart stormed out of the house. Not even a minute later, Ms. Hart came down too and I was worried because she went downstairs to the basement and she said that I'm not allowed to go down there so I couldn't check to see if she was okay an_ — _" Lucas held up his hand to stop her rambling._

_"I'll go check if she's alright, is that better?"_

_Isadora didn't mind the interruption though, she simply smiled and nodded her head. He realized after Isadora went into her bedroom that he couldn't_ really  _go downstairs otherwise Maya would kill him. A thought came to him briefly and he thought it was probably because of how ridiculous it sounded. The flannel he was wearing over his plan t-shirt would make due but he needed someone to guide him if he was going to go down the stairs._

_He went to knock on Isadora's door but he stopped short when he heard her scream at someone presumably over the phone who, "was being a cowardly, selfish, rich piece of shit." to whom she was speaking to, he wasn't sure and hearing her speak in an angry tone like that made him too scared to ask._

_It was decided then that he had to just make his way downstairs without Isadora's help and hope he didn't fall down the stairs and look like an ass._

It wasn't crazy that he wanted to comfort her, who would just stand by and watch someone cry? Especially if they were partially the reason that the person was upset. And then he went on to treat what she told him yesterday like it was a fragment of her imagination, not to mention what she said in the basement made him feel like complete shit as well.

He knew what he said to her that day was crossing the line, he just didn't realize that it would still stick with her after three days. Maybe, he didn't know everything about her like he once thought. The same intrigue he felt yesterday after seeing her fight with Riley baffled him, sure she wasn't exactly the quiet pacifist but to see her so angry at one person was unusual and completely not what he was expecting.

That could also be what interested him about her, he's had a knack for reading people since he was younger, that's how he knew that Zay was going to end up being his best friend because he could tell from the short moments they talked in kindergarten that he was just a good person who wanted a friend. He had quite a mouth on him that had a tendency to get him into trouble but beyond that was a heart of gold.

When the two of them moved to New York, Lucas was cautious with who they spoke to, knowing that some people would take advantage of how new they were to the city. But...Missy didn't, his brain reluctantly admitted. Missy was a nice girl who wanted to make sure that two cowboys weren't conned in their first trip to someplace that wasn't Austin.

Meeting Chief had left him uneasy because he tried to stay positive and think that he was hard on them for the good of the precinct but Lucas began to realize eventually that maybe his boss was just mean and had no reason behind it other than just to be. His words from the morning didn't leave his ears,

_"You are not to mess up this relationship I have with the Hart family, are we clear? If I hear one complaint out of Kermit Hart's mouth, you'll be begging me to fire you."_

But not hurting his relationship with the Hart family would mean he had to go along with what Mr. Hart was talking about...which meant that he also had to go along with the rumors. It didn't sit well with him, not just having to lie about a non existent relationship but also because of what Maya had said to him in the basement before the hug ordeal.

Willingly going along with something that hurt her enough that she accepted a hug from him of all people had to really mess her up which brought him back to his original thought about how much he  _really_  knew about Maya Hart.

She would be predictable one minute, calling him names and doing things to try and get under his skin like talk about Missy then she would go completely unpredictable like in the basement happens that leaves him confused and questioning things like, why of all people would she cry in front of  _him_? Why when he pulled away from her to go back upstairs did something tell him that she hadn't wanted him to leave?

The last part must've been him imagining things since he couldn't see anything. He could see her tears that ended up soaking through his shirt, he couldn't see how much pain she was in, all he could do was feel how fragile she felt in his arms and the feeling that came over him before he pulled her to him.

The sound of Maya putting her bowl of soup in the sink sprang him awake from his thoughts. He noticed that she had taken out her ponytail that she had when they got upstairs and now there was a curtain of light blonde hair blocking her face from his view. Lucas pondered for a moment if that's why she let her hair down in the first place before clearing his throat to get her attention.

She didn't spare him a glance. She merely continued to scrub her bowl, filling it with bubbly water and moving the sponge in small circular motions.

"Maya." He called her but he got the same reaction. There wasn't even a slight possibilty that she couldn't hear him since he was three feet away from her leaning on the counter. Was she ignoring him?

Maya rinsed the bowl under the running tap and put it to dry on the empty rack, she moved onto her cup when Lucas thought to tap her on the shoulder. She jumped back and dropped the cup she'd been washing, breaking it in the process. Shards of glass were scattered across the tiled floor and his eyes went to Maya who was already bent down trying to collect the glass from the floor.

"What happened?" Isadora was in the doorway one second then at Maya's side the next, "Ms. Hart, leave it. I'll get the broom and clean it up. You're barefoot, you could step on glass." She argued taking the bits of glass from Maya's hand and she let her take it without a word. She hasn't said a single thing since they'd gotten upstairs, Lucas realized as he watched her get up and walk into the living room.

The realization made him catch up to her and grab her hand so she would stop and he asked in a gentle voice, "Maya, are you okay?" She turned and her baby blue eyes went from his face to their hands and then she nodded, her eyes finding his again and letting her hand slip from his before going to sit on the far end of the couch.

It shouldn't have bothered him that she wasn't talking. People were allowed to be quiet without it being weird, even people like Maya Hart who always had something to say.

* * *

The two sat in silence, every so often having Isadora come in and ask them if they wanted anything to which Maya would shake her head while doing something on her phone and Lucas would speak up and say, "No, thank you though, Isadora." and they'd be left in the quiet once again. Lucas thought of piping up to maybe fill the air with small talk but he just felt like it'd make everything worse, so he decided against it.

When her father, sister and step mother stepped through the door, he surely thought that he'd hear something.

He was wrong. Hearing the door open didn't even faze her and seeing her father didn't either. Judging from what Isadora told him earlier that day about Maya and her father, he was expecting a little more especially because she had gone ballistic on that girl yesterday.

Lucas got up to greet them after looking Maya's way to gouge her reactions or lack thereof. It looked like the three of them didn't even notice Maya was on the couch when they said their hellos. Mrs. Hart kissed his cheek before going to the kitchen to make a phone call, Sophia squeaked a hello before blushing and following her mother then he was left with Mr. Hart who pat his back and smiled, "Lucas, we have a lot to talk about."

"Oh? What about?"

"Don't worry yourself, Lucas. You're not in trouble, but it seems like I am and I think you could help me. Let's sit." He gestured towards the couch and Lucas furrowed his eyebrows wondering why Mr. Hart hadn't said a word to his own daughter but wanted to sit where she was sitting. Lucas turned to the couch and saw no one. The two of them sat down while Lucas looked around as if Maya was hiding from him.

Her being quiet for so long was becoming more of a punishment to him. It made him start second guessing what he did in the basement which he thought was completely fine because who refused a hug when they were crying? It might've been his soft side but he couldn't take watching or better yet hearing someone crying in front of him when he could do something. Who—

"So, can you do it?" Mr. Hart said and his eyes looked desperate. He mentally face palmed, remembering that he was supposed to be having a conversation with Mr. Hart not thinking about his daughter.

"Sorry?"

He took a deep breath, "Can you pretend and I emphasize the word pretend because there will be no real romantic relationship between you two, I promise, to date Maya. It'll be for her own good, I assure you. I didn't answer any questions regarding the situation today because I wanted to make sure you were on board but I'll have to speak out tomorrow. So, what do you say?"

An answer appeared so suddenly in his head that he almost voiced it and it was, "No." No to being part of something that had made Maya break down in front of him. No to being part of a lie that played out into some twisted story that's being kept secret in this family. That's the answer that he would've gone home being proud of.

Instead, the most selfish response took it's place. It was the one that was scared of him losing his job, the one solid thing he had in the city over a girl he's known for four days. The logic behind the answer filled his brain and didn't even let him process what he'd just done, all he felt was his mouth open and heard his own voice saying, "Yes."

Mr. Hart's face light up.

"Thank you so much for this, son. Did you want to stay for dinner?"

Lucas shook his head, the weight of the day weighed down on him suddenly and it felt like nothing could relieve the burden but his bed and his cat, "I'm alright, sir. I gotta get home anyway."

"Of course," Mr. Hart said and began to walk him to the door, "Have a good night, son." Lucas was out the door and into the night air shortly after, the reality of what he said hitting him.

He agreed to be Maya's boyfriend like none of today happened. Like he didn't comfort her when she was sobbing into his shirt, like she hadn't stayed silent the whole day much to his dismay, like his heart didn't go out to her in the shitty situation where her father had to dictate what she did with her life. What he said hadn't taken her into consideration at all and he arrived at his home feeling completely guilty about what he said.

He assured her that everything would be alright but now he had a helping hand in what was hurting her.


	15. please let me go home early or should i bring a sign?

**M** aya fell asleep with the thoughts of yesterday still in her mind. Lucas' words in the basement echoed in her skull, his gentle voice was persuading her to believe the ignorant and innocent things he told her,  _"It's gonna be alright, Maya."_

She envied how he didn't know what was actually happening, she wished for weeks that she could just have everything wiped from her brain, she wished she didn't feel so tainted for such a great amount of time, and she wished for the past three months to be somewhere that wasn't the home she was in now. Maya wished desperately for a place that was warm and safe.

Her pride wouldn't let her admit it aloud but if it wasn't obvious before Lucas hugged her, it was definitely obvious now.

Late in the night, her subconscious agreed with her. Her dream began how her nightmares used to begin back when her world came crashing down. The room was pitch black and there was a low voice whispering in her ear for her to be quiet and relax. It told her that she would enjoy it and that there was nothing to be upset over. The voice had hands that wouldn't stop removing her clothes, wouldn't stop wandering all over her body against her best efforts to stop it. The voice didn't have ears or was at least very good at ignoring her loud screams to stop.  _Please...stop_ , she cried.

Suddenly the weight of the voice was off her and she was standing in a dark place that felt eerie. The silence of it made goosebumps run up her arms and she ran to try and escape only to be met by something soft like cotton and warm like a fireplace. This thing also had arms and these arms seemed to have the ability to take away her fear and discomfort. She relished in the feeling before her eyes snapped open and she realized the warmth was merely her blankets cocooning her.

Strange twist to her usual nightmare, she noted before finding her journal on the floor and deciding that the sudden change in something that's hung over her head for so long had to be jotted down with her other thoughts.

_Something might be going on with me, but I'm not sure if it's meant to be good or bad. He was in my dream again, the monster won't leave. But something happened and for a moment, I could let the memories of him slip away and replace it with arms that gave me the comfort of what I remembered before the accident._

_But I could_ _also be losing my mind, so there's that._

Nothing to separate her bad and good feelings came to mind because to Maya, what she'd just finished writing in her journal had been both. She was still trying to figure out what her dream meant and if her thoughts were going to stop wandering to the basement and stay upstairs with her in the real world where not everything will be alright like some people might think.

She commended herself for waking up early and getting breakfast without Isadora having to come get her and then instantly regret her decision to get out of bed before noon and that is solely because her father hadn't gone to work yet and her step mother hadn't wandered off to her desperate housewives clubs yet.

When she went downstairs, she noted that Sophia wasn't there and wondered if they dropped her off early so it would be just the three of them discussing whatever nonsense they wanted to put her through this time.

"I'm glad you're awake, I was hoping I didn't have to go up and wake you." Her father said like he would actually be that courteous with her. It was only the three of them and Maya was sure that Isadora wasn't listening in because Isadora was sweeping the living room when she came down and was too busy with her headphones in to realize that Maya was walking past her, making faces to get her attention.

She nodded her head and headed towards the table in the kitchen where there was a bowl full of fruit. Maya eyed the mixture of pears, bananas, apples and peaches before deciding on grabbing an apple and taking a big, 'unladylike' bite that she knew would drive her step mother crazy even though it was just the three of them there. With her mouth full, she shot her father and stepmother a smile before asking, "Where's Sophia?"

Her step mother took in a deep breath, a second away from losing her patience before her father held up a hand to silence her.

"Don't change the subject, Maya. Just listen to what I'm about to tell you." His voice was steady and stern and Maya thought if he hadn't gone and completely pissed her off yesterday she would've considered taking what he was saying a little more seriously.

Instead she continued chewing obnoxiously and nodded for her father to keep going.

Shaking his head and sighing, Mr. Hart continued, "The Matthews family has invited us all to dinner to welcome home, Riley. I think it would be wise for us  _all_  to go and show face because Riley means a lot to this family and it wouldn't be appropriate if we missed it."

She was completely paying attention to what he was saying now and sending him a glare that could kill. Not only did he just order her to be in a fake relationship yesterday with someone she just met but he was making her see the person who used to mean the world to her.

"And if I don't feel like going?" Maya challenged him but he looked unfazed.

"You're going. Be ready by six and no funny business, things are starting to finally look up for you." Her father advised sharply. Maya swallowed the urge to spit the chewed apple she had in her mouth at him though the idea didn't leave her head until she saw him and her step mother walk out of the house chit chatting about her club and his work.

It was probably her imagination trying to get her riled up more but she could've sworn she heard her father mention  _him_. The despicable human being that had ruined her life singlehandedly in one night but she didn't move from her spot. She continued eating her apple and didn't move until she heard the familiar accented voice calling for her hours later.

* * *

"What do you think? Does it say, please let me go home early or should I bring a sign?" Maya asked Isadora who was making her bed. Once she saw the state of Maya's room with all it's messy glory she went to work. Maya noticed that Isadora's eyes went to the tuna melt that remained untouched on her dresser and her stomach dropped. It was embarrassing for people to know that even though she hated Riley, she couldn't bare to throw away the sandwich she gave her.

She'd reached new levels of pathetic over the past five days.

"Don't do anything that could get you in trouble, Maya." Lucas' voice echoed from the other side of the door. He had followed her and Isadora upstairs after she asked her friend to help her pick something nice to wear for the stupid dinner she didn't want to go to.  _As soon as they were at her door, Maya pivoted and looked at him then the wall beside her door. He rolled his eyes before taking a seat. "I'm giving you thirty minutes." He mumbled like she wouldn't hear._

_"Actually huckleberry, since Isadora will be in the room with me, there's really no need to time me. She'll tell you that I'm fine so you don't have to worry about me."_

_"It's my job to worry about you." He said like it was nothing. Thoughts of strong arms and the pungent smell of paint swirled around in her mind and she mentally berated herself for going there. None of what he said should mean anything, he was stating the obvious, Maya thought in hopes that her mind would get a clue. Her face didn't show any indication that she cared about how he was feeling though, she raised her eyebrow at him before walking into her room where Isadora was waiting._

"Not your problem, huckleberry. Now butt out of the conversation." She said loudly and swore she heard him huff from the door. Isadora was still looking at the dress that Maya had pulled from her now organized closet, the dress hit mid thigh and was lace all over in a periwinkle color. It had spaghetti straps that made Maya iffy about showing her shoulders which in turn frustrated her because _what did it matter if she showed her shoulders?_ She didn't want to be around those people anyway, there was no need to worry about looking nice.

"Go with that one," Isadora told her but her eyes shifted to the tuna melt, "Excuse me if this is forward, Ms. Hart but have you eaten the sandwich that Ms. Matthews brought you? It looks like it's in the same spot I left it in yesterday." Her gaze returned to the pillow she'd been fluffing right after she said it.

"Well no." Maya said truthfully. Maybe it was because of what a huge help Isadora had been to her over the past three months but Maya couldn't find it in her to lie to her friend.

Isadora put the pillow down and smoothed the quilt before taking a seat and speaking to her in a voice just above a whisper, "You shouldn't be ashamed of how you feel, Ms. Hart. I'm not here to judge you...I know that you miss her."

A silence filled the room as Maya placed the dress on the bed and went to look for shoes. Maya kept her mouth shut for fear she might say something she didn't mean to. She knew that Isadora had a thing for observing people and Maya's friendship with Riley wasn't necessarily a secret but she couldn't help but feel exposed that someone other than herself could see that she still missed Riley.

"I shouldn't though. I don't matter to her. So she shouldn't matter to me." Voicing the realization made her temper flare up again because she knew it was the truth. Riley didn't care about her the same way Maya cared about her. It was frustrating and aggravating because other people like Isadora could see through the veil of hate she wore.

So to make a point to herself and Isadora, Maya left the closet to go grab the tuna melt on her shelf which she proceeded to throw in the garbage by her dresser. She looked back at Isadora who was staring at the trash can with surprise. It was just a sandwich, Maya said to herself as guilt began to bubble up inside her. Maya walked back to the closet and spotted a pair of black strappy stilettos.

"But, Ms. Hart..." Isadora trailed off. Maya ignored her though and only turned around to hold up the shoes, "Yay or nay?"

She looked from the shoes to Maya trying to piece together what was going through her mind, she wondered if Maya still felt helpless like she'd felt that day when that day on the balcony. The face she was giving her though was cold and closed off, normally one she reserved specifically for her father and Isadora worried that she might've overstepped without meaning to so she kept her inner thoughts to herself and nodded.

"Yay."

* * *

The dress fit, her hair looked good, and her makeup was flawless and she never felt less like herself. Her reflection was the girl from before three months ago, it was the naive girl who thought her dad could really love her and that she could go somewhere in life with the one thing she knew she was really good at. Remembering how trusting she'd been almost made her sick.

Finally, she stepped out of her room with her heels in her hands and Isadora in tow and the two of them found Lucas leaning against the wall, asleep. Her eyes went to his black flannel that she'd seen him wear earlier and she shook her head for thinking that he would go change his clothes to look posh and untouchable. The sight almost made her smile because  _of course_  he would wear a flannel to a dinner with a bunch of rich people. It was silly to think he would dress differently for people he's never met, it just didn't seem like the kind of person he was.

From the five days that she's known him, Lucas didn't really look like he cared much for the wealthy life or the opinions of others and she envied him because there was a time when she felt like that. There was a time where she wasn't sucked into the trap that she currently couldn't escape from; having everybody at her feet only to then treat her like she was the scum beneath them.

"Are you going to wake him up, Ms. Hart?" Isadora said from beside her, she flushed after realizing that she'd been staring.

"Uh yeah. Just saw something shiny on his chin and finally figured out it was drool." To show how indifferent she was, Maya hit her heels against the wall by his head and immediately he shot up and grabbed her hand before she could bang her shoes again. He was so swift in doing it that she didn't have time to mask the mild surprise on her face.

"What?" He said and glanced at their hands and immediately dropped hers.

"Your fast reflexes are very surprising, Mr. Friar. Almost to the point of unexpected." Isadora said as she says most things, without a filter.

"Well, I guess I'm just lucky that way," He jumped up to his feet and his eyes flew from Isadora to Maya's dress. In the instant that it did, he looked up at Maya whose was staring right back at him with probing eyes. Lucas cleared his throat and his hand went to the back of his neck, "You—uh look—um..." He trailed off but Maya still said nothing.

Then her the curiosity in her gaze left and was replaced with amusement and she said, "Don't hurt yourself, huckleberry." And she made her way downstairs where her father had text her to wait for him and her stepmother because they were on their way. Lucas hopped down the steps just as she heard the car pull up.

* * *

Sophia's dress was heavily sequined and beaded and the sweet expensive smell of designer didn't seem to be wearing off. Maya would know all these details the best since her step mother threw the dress at her the moment she got in the car.

"Make sure not to touch it too much otherwise it'll look like a wrinkled disaster. Your sister deserves at least one thing nice from you." Her stepmother barked from the seat beside her before returning to her compact mirror and fixing her lipstick. If there was one thing that Maya could admit she did well, it was putting on makeup in the car while they drove through the not so smooth streets of New York.

Lucas was in the seat next to her and seemed to be doing everything in his power not to have any part of his body touch hers. Was what she said in the hallway too harsh? She wasn't sure, it was just strange to see the mild mannered farm boy trip over his words like a teenager. Inside though, it made her slightly more than amused almost to the point where she could feel genuine happiness because Lucas couldn't form a sentence at the sight of her.

But then logic would come in and she would kick herself for acting immature. His opinion didn't matter that much to her, she shouldn't think so highly of it. None of that mattered though as she wondered what she did to make him act so stiff and treat her like she had cooties. The car shook again and their chauffeur mumbled an apology just as her step mother sent him a glare. Her father was talking to him about politics and the city life and the name she thought he spoke of this morning came to mind.

Would he do that to her in the car? Where they were other people who were completely unaware of what a selfish and power hungry man he was? The conversation thankfully didn't steer the way that Maya could sense would lead to talking about him. There was no speak of 'Kermit Hart's Shining Star' which was a relief that even though his name never left her mind as well as that night, it was easier to try and think of other things without hearing his name being spoken about aloud, especially in the boasting tone her father always used.

Although Maya didn't seem to be off the hook like she'd wanted to be. There was still the dinner party that she had considered leaving while everyone was too drunk to remember her skipping out on any group discussions or toasting from their wine glasses. But fate had more in store because her mind focused on one thing as she walked into the Matthews home, carrying Sophia's dress and receiving warm hugs from Mr. and Mrs. Matthews.

It was the lanky boy at the table who was listening intently to what Riley was saying. It was Farkle. 


	16. my shitty father doesn't pay you that much

**A** s soon as Lucas walked into the Matthews home, he could feel a noticeable difference to what he was used to with the Harts. For one, he could tell that the whole 'we're a loving family' vibe was authentic. Riley, their daughter seemed to enjoy the company of her parents much more than Maya did even when she pretended to. Their son, Auggie was adorably blunt with everything and it shouldn't have shocked him that he would end up befriending Sophia who seemed clever and observant.

It was at the dinner table that the realization came to him. Sure, he was treated well at the Harts home but the atmosphere felt tense whenever the attention was focused on something related to Maya. For example, when Mr. Hart was talking to Lucas about what a great talent Billy Ross was and how lucky he had been to find him, Maya looked stiff and angry and Lucas was sure that he wasn't the only one who saw her change from being nonchalant and bored to furious and on edge.

He suspected that hearing her father brag about finding a talent that wasn't her anymore would be a valid reason to get so upset and thankfully the topic of Billy Ross wasn't brought up at the Matthews home.

But there was still trouble as his eyes traveled to Maya who sat across from him at the end of the table, with only Auggie beside her. There was a butler who was bringing them drinks and Maya had taken another one. Lucas' gaze didn't stray from her the whole night after seeing her reaction when she came in. He had reason, Lucas told himself, to keep his eye on her the whole night because it startled him how naturally his eyes drifted over to her.

Mrs. Matthews knowing smile didn't help his little predicament, "You got a good one, Lucas. Don't mess it up." She said after he went to say hello to her and her family. There was a brief moment when he didn't what the hell she was talking about but then realized that to everyone but him, Maya and Mr. Hart, Lucas and Maya were an actual couple. And to further confirm the reality of it, Mrs. Matthews blue eyes were on Maya who he just realized he'd been looking for. There was a moment of mini panic where he thought she'd followed through on her plans to escape the dinner party early.

But she was leaning against the wall with her glass of champagne, looking at the wide window that made the backdrop of the living room. The Matthews family had pulled back the curtains to allow guests to see the higher view of the city lit up and even though he hasn't considered himself a since his first day in New York a year ago, the view was still as breathtaking as the first time.

He's never seen her look so deep in thought, her face looked calm for the first time ever if he was honest and it was a look that suited her. Maya had seemed to surprise him throughout the whole night at the Matthews home from the moment she walked through the door. He hadn't thought much of the tall skinny boy next to Riley until he greeted Maya in a similar way that Riley had. He'd opened his arms for a hug and screamed, "Maya!"

Maya's face shifted from her neutral expression for a moment and Lucas prayed that she wouldn't make a scene and start throwing things like before...and she didn't.

Instead, she went over to the kitchen passing both the boy who he soon found out was named Farkle and Riley and came back out with a glass of champagne in her hand. He'd never seen someone down champagne so fast. But the drinks didn't stop there, she had gone back after greeting Mr. and Mrs. Matthews and Auggie. Riley had attempted to ask her to talk but Lucas stressed the emphasis on talk because Maya acted like she couldn't hear anything.

Then shortly after Lucas' eyes were ripped from where Maya was leaning against the wall so he could greet Auggie, did Farkle and Riley both disappear as well as Maya and he wondered if they had both teamed up to try and get her to talk to them. But even though he's only known her a short five days, he could tell that Maya was the stubborn type. For a moment, he hoped that whatever they were trying to tell her so bad wasn't going to upset her and then he realized that what he was hoping for sounded a lot like he cared about her. The thought was so new and strange, he immediately dismissed it, just like how he dismissed what he did in the basement and how he had accepted to be Maya's pretend boyfriend without telling her.

During the course of the night though, he would watch her down the champagne...drink after drink. When she reappeared with Farkle and Riley, it got worse because she wasn't pacing, she was chugging them down without break and without thinking.

It shouldn't have shocked him when Mr. Hart leaned to whisper in his ear while the rest of the table talked about Europe and what a  _truly_ wonderful place it was, "Get Maya out of here before she embarrasses us more." And then almost like she heard him and wanted to anger him further, Maya spoke up for the first time since they arrived.

"We get it, Europe was  _so_  amazing. I mean it was amazing enough to ignore me for three months, right? Europe was so  _rich_ with history that you couldn't help but forget all about me huh, Riles? And  _Farkle,_ why don't you talk about what your father told you before  _you_  went to Europe? Something about me being some attention seeking whore, right? Why don't you talk about that?" Then she took another sip of her drink like she had finished talking about the weather, there was a sound of glass shattering and Lucas looked over to Mrs. Hart who was seated next to her husband and her hand was still in the position of holding a glass.

The room grew to a tense silence before Farkle put his fork and knife down then began to speak gently to her, "Maya, that's enough."

"No, it isn't. Being here and pretending I'm not completely fucking disgusted is enough." And Lucas hadn't noticed that he gotten so close to her while she was talking but the second she finished, he was there grabbing her hand and lifting her out of her seat.

"I think Maya has had one too many." Lucas began to apologize but Maya cut him off while trying to tear her hand from his tight grip, "Let me go, Ranger Rick."

"Thank you for dinner." He said and the two head for the door without another word on Lucas' part and many, many swear words flying out of Maya's mouth.

* * *

Lucas was thankful that their driver, Harley was still waiting outside for them when they came out, he didn't think taking the subway back to her house while she was throwing a fit and screaming at him to let her go would go well in a train full of onlookers and potential press.

He wondered if Harley knew what was going on with Maya and the Hart family and he only suspected this because he didn't bat an eye at Maya's protests to go back home and her efforts to get him to release her. Maybe he didn't know the specifics but knew that Maya was hurting.

His thoughts disappeared when Maya managed to unlock the door on her own and was stumbling around the house, throwing things on the floor. Before he got to her, she managed to throw a smiling picture of her father, step mother, sister and herself on the floor which shattered the glass frame. She was now making sure that all the pillows that laid nicely on their couch, were laying on the floor.

"Maya, stop." He said before he reached her. Lucas grabbed her wrist but she didn't relent, she just pulled forward to lift the couch cushions. In one swift movement, he turned her around to face him and grabbed hold of her other wrist so she couldn't grab anything else then witnessed how all of the tension in her face eased.

"Let me go." Maya breathed and stopped fighting him. He nearly let her go from the shock of how quickly her demeanor changed.

"Not until you tell me what happened back there." Lucas answered after mentally composing himself, he felt like trying to speak to a vulnerable version of Maya was difficult without his flannel blindfold.

"It was nothing." Her voice remained the same soft tone and he urged himself to push for answers regardless of how she was reacting to him questioning her.

"It didn't look like nothing, Maya. Did something happen while we were there?"

She closed her eyes for a second and scoffed, "Don't act like you actually give a shit." And her eyes opened and her frosty gaze never strayed from his worried face. He furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out if she really thought that all of what he was doing was pretend.

"And what if I did?"

This time she let out a hollow laugh, "My shitty father doesn't pay you that much."

"None of this is about money." His frustration was fueling his bravery to let go of his wrists and he did. But nothing changed, she still stood there looking at him with amused disbelief.

"It's always about money, huckleberry. It was my father's idea for you to bring me home early, right? He probably didn't want the Matthews to start believing what everyone has been writing in the media. Young artist ruins gallery. Crazed artist seeks escape. Crazy Hart caught on the balcony. Admit it, if there wasn't something in it for you, you wouldn't give a shit about what happens to me." She said like she knew everything.

But did she? Lucas didn't really seem to know how he felt. It was all jumbled up and gray and nothing seemed to be making sense to him anymore because on one hand he had been completely selfish and accepted what her father asked of him even though he had just experienced the pain it caused her. On the other hand, his mind wondered what had happened between her, Farkle and Riley and if it made her pain worsen because if there was anything that was obvious during the night, it was that in someway he cared about what happened to her.

Before he could get too caught up in how true the statement he was, he realized he had a very drunk and very angry Maya Hart in front of him that was saying things that were effecting him more than they should.

"Maya, you're drunk. Let me walk you to your room and we can talk about this tomorrow." He went to take her hand but she pulled it from his grasp.

"Don't treat me like I'm some kid! Answer the question."

"This is stupid, Maya. You need to go get some rest." Then he tried once again to take her hand so they could go upstairs and end the longest night of his life but she wouldn't relent. In fact him dismissing her once again made her so angry that she started to beat on his chest.

"Answer the damn question, huckleberry! Just man up and say that my father made you do all of those things!" Her weak attempts of hitting his chest didn't physically hurt him though the fact that she was so adamant on thinking he was this horrible person did rile him up. His large hands covered hers and stopped her from hitting him anymore as he looked at her, the source of his frustration.

"What do you want from me, Maya?! You think in that twisted mind of yours that letting someone actually care about your well being is a bad thing? Will that really make everything in your life better, to think that no one gives a shit about you? Trust me, Maya. I know what it feels like to have everyone against you and its a fucked up feeling!"

"What you and I feel is not the same!" She hissed through clench teeth.

"You might not think so but we do. Having really shitty close minded people for parents, your home feeling like a prison but there's someone who doesn't treat you like you're some defective and it's a nice change but I've already gone and screwed up the last part. So why do you?" His voice nearly broke towards the end, how had he admitted all of the things he buried to a girl he knew for less than a week in less than a minute?

He blames her blue eyes that had turned soft after hearing what he had to say.

"I guess I've just become used to people saying one thing then doing another," Her eyes fell to his chest where he was still holding her hands in place and she sniffled, "And that day in the basement, for the first time in a long time, I felt safe. And it was a really big deal to me because my life has basically gone to shit these past three months and...no one cares." There was a hiccup and Lucas dropped her hands and lifted her head with his index finger so they were eye to eye.

There was a tear rolling down her cheek and another welling up threatening to ruin more of her eye makeup. He could feel her shaking as his thumb reached up and wiped the tear away. It felt so different holding Maya and listening to her cry to him but seeing it, seeing how vulnerable and fragile she became triggered a gentleness he didn't even know he possessed.

"I probably look like a mess, right?" She tried to joke and broke eye contact with him. To be honest, her makeup didn't look as pristine as it had when they were on their way to the Matthews and her hair was slightly tousled from her attempts to get away from him in the car but mess was farthest thing from his mind. Real was a better suited word. This was a Maya that wasn't censored or controlled.

"Not even close." He said in a voice just above a whisper and her attention returned to him in an instant, her confused eyes searching him for an answer to his thoughtless words. Even more thoughtless was his noticing that Maya's face getting closer to his, did he fully realize what he was doing—or about to. His thoughts all joined together to say that kissing Maya while she was drunk was probably an extremely bad idea but the rest of him wouldn't listen, his hand went to cup her face while the other held her hand.

She didn't protest, she simply closed her eyes and just before Lucas shut his, he could swear he saw the ghost of a smile on her face. He felt the brush of her lips on his and then a heavy weight on his chest. Bewildered, he opened his eyes and found Maya on his chest, asleep.

The creak of the door startled him as he tried to maneuver Maya so that he could carry her to her room. He looked right towards the kitchen and coincidentally, Isadora's room.

There wasn't anyone there but Lucas knew that wasn't the case. He rolled his eyes before calling out, "Goodnight, Isadora."

"Goodnight, Mr. Friar!" She said from her room. He breathed a laugh before lifting Maya from under her knees and arms so that her legs dangled off one side and her head rested on his chest.

He made sure not to turn the light on in her room so he didn't see much except for the outline of the bed and he made sure to place her on the middle of the bed after taking her shoes off. He was sure to brush all the hair from her face and nearly pecked her forehead before he caught himself. They already were going to share one kiss too many that night, meaning that Lucas should get home so he was in a space that didn't let him do things without thinking.

Isadora was at the bottom of the stairs pacing when he left Maya's room. Lucas took in her attire and nearly smiled at how polished she looked even in her pajamas and robe. Isadora stopped when she saw him and waited for him to get closer for her to ask, "Is she alright?"

"I don't know, you tell me. You  _were_  watching, weren't you?"

She flushed and looked taken aback, "I  _was_ not. You shouldn't go around accusing people of things, Mr. Friar. Would you like it if I accused you of trying to steal a kiss from Ms. Hart?" Isadora realized her mistake a second too late after seeing Lucas' eyes light up.

"Aha! So, you  _were_  watching!"

"Well, you weren't exactly quiet."

"Fair enough," He nodded, "Hey, can you do me a favor and just—"

"Check on her?" Isadora interrupted with a knowing smile, "I was already on it. She's also  _my_  responsibility on occasion, Mr. Friar." The thought warmed his heart. Maya didn't realize there were always people on her side.

"Good night, Isadora." He said as he walked over and opened the door.

"Good night, Mr. Friar." She replied before he shut the door behind him.

Lucas returned to his apartment with the thought of Missy returning to him for the second time that day. Mentioning his mistake to Maya came out without a filter though it let him vent out the frustrations he had had with himself during the course of his fight with Missy. His thoughts didn't stay on Missy though, his thoughts remained on the thought of his almost kiss with Maya.

It was crazy for him to think that in those intimate moments, he wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and kiss her. Crazy, he said to himself as the faint feeling of her lips on his was his last thought before drifting to sleep.


	17. the name's babineaux, zay babineaux

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i'd just like to update everyone who has been reading strings on ao3. i began writing strings in high school and since then i've graduated and started college. i fully am committed to writing this story and other new ones i have but i don't have as much time to sit down and write like i used to. just thought you guys should know in case this story gets another accidental hiatus. i will finish it guys. 
> 
> promise.

**H** angovers were the absolute worst.

And Maya has been the victim of a fair few but it was a pain that was hard to get used to. Her mouth felt dry, her cheeks were sticky and there was no doubt in her mind that her hair was an absolute mess. She looked around her room and was very grateful that her blinds stayed shut because there were few rays of sunshine poking through them to her floor and Maya could only imagine the sun's rays at full force at her growing headache.

Her dress from the night before was still on, she noted. Which could only mean one of two things, someone carried her to her bed which she highly doubted. Or she stumbled her way up the stairs to her bedroom and just passed out which she sort of doubted as well because how was she able to untie the straps of her heels in a drunken state?

How was she able to get back home in her drunken state? The last place she remembers being was at the dinner table...at the Matthews house. She wished her mind hadn't wandered to the night before. She didn't remember exactly what she did at the Matthews home but she could only imagine it wasn't something pleasant if she was drunk.

The urge to bury her head in pillow was pushed away as she tried to remember the timeline of events at the Matthews house. She remembered getting there and wanting to leave the moment she saw Farkle. It had been almost as painful as seeing Riley again. So, she resorted to the one thing she knew would make her relax and that was alcohol. She remembers avoiding the two of them while trying never breaking her streak of practically inhaling champagne.

But it wasn't a massive apartment that allowed her to just wander into a room and hide from them. Because they eventually double teamed her and made her listen to them. Her heart dropped remembering what had happened in the hallway between the three of them.

_Maya hadn't suspected the two of them would follow her on her way to the bathroom but desperate times called for desperate measures and she supposed that ignoring them for nearly half of the dinner had driven them to that point. Nevertheless, seeing them near her made her sick and since she was drunk and not very good at hiding her emotions when she was under the influence, very angry._

_A voice, specifically one that belonged to her ex best friend called out her name. She continued walking but was stopped by another person who she guessed correctly was Farkle. His hand had grabbed hold of her arm and spun her around so she could face them in the dimly lit hallway. It cast shadows over the happy pictures the Matthews had on their walls of their children, Riley and Auggie and even a wedding photo of Corey and Topanga._

_Maya refused to give in to the comforting feeling the home had given her since she walked in._

_"Can I help you?" She asked coldly and ripped her arm from Farkle's grip. Riley and Farkle exchanged a look before Farkle took initiative and spoke up first._

_"Look Maya, we know you must be angry and you have every right to be_ — _"_

 _"Oh I have the right now?" Maya interrupted him without a second thought, "Well thank you,_ your highness _for giving me the right_   _to be angry." She said and could care less about the frustrated look on his face._

_"That's not what I meant, Maya. Would you just listen to the two of us for a second? Would you at least let us explain what's happened over these past three months?" He pleaded and somehow his baby blues managed to break down a little bit of the front she was putting on because she didn't speak again until after he had. He looked to Riley who nodded then he began,_

_"I admit that I've been a shitty friend for not speaking to you those three months but you have to understand that my father wasn't really keen on me staying your friend after the whole gallery ordeal. So, he shipped me off to Europe for three months saying that I should be around an..." He seemed to stop himself before he could continue and Riley spoke up hoping Maya didn't catch it but she had._

_"So_ —"

_"Be around_ _what, Farkle?" She asked and wouldn't relent._

_"It doesn't matter, Maya." Riley jumped to his defense after Maya brushed her off._

_"Yes, it does. Be around what, Farkle? What did he say?"_

_"It isn't important, what's important is that I proved him wrong by acting like the complete opposite of what he thought for you." None of what he was saying was registering in her head, all she could think about was what he almost said. And it angered her that he didn't want to tell her and Riley was helping him hide the truth from her._

_"I don't give a shit, Farkle. Now tell me what he said." She demanded and it finally clicked in his brain that she wasn't going to stop asking what his father said about her._

_"Maya, you really don't want to know."_

_"Just fucking tell me!"_

_"He called you an attention seeking whore, alright! Happy now?"_ _His eyes widened as he realized what he just said and witnessed Maya's face fall for a moment, "But that's not what I thought, Maya. That's not what I think at all of you." He grabbed her hands and squeezed so she would look at him but her eyes stayed trained on the buttons of his shirt._

_And her mind wouldn't quit replaying 'attention seeking whore'. That's what everyone saw her as, that's what Mr. Minkus thought of her. The man who used to commend her talent and tell her she was going places had dwindled his opinion of her to down to nothing._

_"Maya?" Riley called softly. Then she was reminded where she was and_ who  _she was with. She pulled her hands from Farkle's and glared at him._

_"I've heard enough."_

_"But Maya..." Riley tried talking her down._

_"Just_ don't,  _okay?"_

_"He didn't mean it the way it sounds, Maya. You gotta know that." She said and her voice was getting shaky. Maya knew she was going to cry but couldn't find it in her to try and stop it. The familiar numb feeling from three months ago rushed over her as her eyes shifted over to glare at Riley._

_"You know I don't think I do."_ _Then she continued on her way to the bathroom where she stayed until her hands stopped shaking._

Maya wished her hangover would've erased that part of the night from her brain. Or possibly even the dinner where she yelled at Farkle and Riley even further. Everything after that is just quick flashes of street lights and a faint warmth against her lips. But what could possibly have been—

A knock at the door swept her away from her thoughts and she considered not opening it before the brief thought of Isadora having to wait and nag her to get up one more time made her think better of it. She practically swung open the door not thinking twice that there could be a slight possibility that the person behind the door  _wasn't_ Isadora.

It was completely thoughtless of her, she realized after opening the door because standing before her wasn't her equally as short friend but her tall and very southern babysitter.

"Huckleberry?" She questioned stupidly like it couldn't possibly be him standing there. Though, there was reason to wonder because she's never seen him so fidgety and nervous. The strangest part was that he was looking directly at her even in his nervous state. He wasn't staring at his hands or the floor and especially not her room which she was giving full view to by holding the door wide open.

Was he still trying to keep up their truce by not looking in her room? The thought crossed her mind before he spoke up.

"Hey, Maya. How's it going?" He tried saying casually although there was nothing about him in that moment that was making giving her casual vibes.

"Um, well. I have a hangover and vague picture of what happened last night. So, I'd say I've been better," She tried to joke so it didn't feel so strange talking to him but her joking seemed to make it worse when his eyes drifted from her own to under her nose which finally led to him looking away from her completely and his eyes to take interest in the floor.

"Is there a reason you're acting so weird?" Her questioning seemed to shake him from his awkwardness and he stood up a little straighter while keeping focus on her again. He let out a breath that looked like it relaxed him even further and asked,

"Wanna do something?"

"Like what?" She asked suspiciously as he reverted back to being stiff.

"Well, I thought that maybe you'd want a day out of the house but I don't know," He mumbled and went to scratch the back of his neck, "Do you want to?"

It sounded bad but Maya had a thought seeing Lucas act so strangely in front of her in that moment. It made her wonder about the aftermath of her yelling at Riley and Farkle. Flashes of the previous night passed through her mind but she wasn't able to connect what any of them meant which frustrated her. Then suddenly, she decided that if she left with Lucas, she would be able to ask him more questions about what he did before he met her and also what happened the previous night because she might go crazy wondering what actually happened and what she felt she was making up.

Like the feeling of someone's breath hitting her cheek.

"Sure," She smiled, "Just wait downstairs and I'll be down there before you can say hungover."

* * *

Being alone in a public place with Lucas wasn't a novelty to her. They'd gone to the Coney Island together and rode the train together yet somehow this time around felt different. An example being the fact that he wouldn't quit  _fidgeting_ the whole time they were together. From the corner of her eye, she could see him constantly wiping his hands on jeans of stuffing his hands in his pockets for a moment before taking them out.

She grew so aware of what he was doing that she didn't even notice when he walked them towards an ice cream truck. The sight reminded her of summers in her hot apartment with her mother. For the sake of remaining neutral, she pushed the memory to the back of her mind.

"Two chocolate cones, please." Maya heard Lucas ask the man in the truck. Chocolate? She wondered as the two waited for their ice cream. Only after the man handed them their ice creams did Maya speak up about it.

"What if I hated chocolate ice cream?" She asked him while they walked to wherever Lucas was leading her next. Instantly he lifted his head and looked at her for the first time during their time out of her palace prison.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Maya. If you want we can—"

"Relax, huckleberry. I was just asking because it was like you knew I liked chocolate. Also you didn't bother asking me if I even wanted ice cream but I'll let that go 'cause you're pretty." She joked in hopes that he would lighten up a little. It did the complete opposite because one moment Maya was licking the side of her ice cream and the next, Lucas is choking on his own.

"Oh shit, huckleberry." She stopped and attempted to help him but he shook his head and began to cough and hit his chest. Out of paranoia, Maya looked up to see if they had attracted unwanted attention. By that she meant any tabloid reporter that just  _happened_ to be in the same area as them and attempts to accuse Maya of trying to kill her "new boyfriend".

"I'm alright. I'm good." He said before walking ahead of her and remaining quiet the rest of their walk.

* * *

She was going to his fucking apartment and Maya only figured this out when he pulled out his keys. The whole day was strange in itself but seeing that they were going to his apartment made  _her_ fidgety. What were they doing there? Why were they going?

She didn't really know. Maya wasn't sure the status of their relationship thus far, she'd like to call him a friend because he hasn't done anything to screw her over yet but she couldn't help but wonder what he would label them as. And that was the majority of her hesitance to call him friend.

Even though it was difficult to try and not pry, Maya controlled herself. There had to be a reason he was being super weird that day. The mantra stayed in her head until he led her up the stairs to his floor and opened the door to his apartment.

Now, Maya wouldn't consider herself a rich snob. She'd seen plenty of great examples of those while living with her father and his obnoxious wife. But seeing the state of Lucas' apartment with animal crap piled in the middle of the living room paired with the pungent smell, she couldn't help toes curled in her sneakers and she resisted the urge to pull her shirt over her nose.

"Dammit, I was only gone for an hour!" Lucas hissed in frustration before walking over the crap in the middle of the living room and going to what she assumed was his bedroom. She stood in the doorway taking all of his apartment in for a moment. The floors were worn and he had a single couch that appeared to have been is use for many years.

He had two cabinets above his counter and then three under it by the sink. She didn't peak to see if he had dishes for fear that her impression of his apartment might get worse. The layout was simple overall though. It was much simpler than the catalogue living room, her stepmother had picked out. It looked like a place someone actually  _lived_ in.

"Sorry about the mess, it's just this puffball can carry more food than I expected. Also never really got him a litter box." Lucas said and she glanced over at him to see that he was holding the cutest thing she's ever seen. It was a cat that looked like a ball of cotton.

"Oh my gosh," Maya squealed, "What's its name?" She rushed over to him to take a closer look and felt her heart ache. It was the cutest kitten she's ever seen. Being completely oblivious to Lucas' change in demeanor at her being so close to him, she found nothing strange at him clearing his throat and fixing the kitten in his hands.

"He's been too lazy to take care of it, let alone name it." said a voice that wasn't Lucas'. Maya looked towards the direction of it to find a guy with coffee colored skin that was a head shorter than Lucas, smiling at the sight of the two of them. Her eyes shifted to Lucas who looked just as confused as Maya.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas asked, slightly annoyed. Ignoring him completely, the guy walked up to Maya like there was no sense of boundaries and held out his hand. Without thinking twice, Maya placed her hand in his for what she thought was going to be a normal handshake. Except he brought her hand up to his lips and planted a quick kiss before saying, "The name's Babineaux, Zay Babineaux."


	18. nba rejects

**N** ever in his life had he not wanted to see Zay. In middle school and high school the two were practically inseparable. The two stuck together during everything, the good times with sports and the bad times with Lucas' reputation in his hometown. The latter was the majority of the reason the two of them moved to the big city full of opportunity.

Zay was practically his other half.

And at the moment while Lucas was cradling the puff ball cat, he wished to have his other half as far away from Maya as possible.

"Smooth." He heard Maya say with an amused smile on her face. He swallowed the envy that he had never really caused her to smile like that. Recalling all of their conversations, the only decent one they had was when they went to Coney Island and that day had ended miserably.

"I try." Zay said and looked mighty proud of himself.

"Are you gonna tell me what you're doing here?" Lucas interrupted and Maya and Zay glanced over at him like they just realized he had been standing there. He tried to remain composed about everything even though seeing how quickly Maya and Zay forgot about him being there irked him.

Zay took a deep breath and side stepped Maya, "Well, Vanessa went to go see her mom. So, I thought I'd go see my best friend and shoot some hoops." Almost as if he planned it, Maya's eyes widened in surprise.

" _You_ play basketball?"

Before he could get a word in, Zay spoke up, " _Does he play_? The game was practically his life back in high school. Along with baseball, track and soccer, right Luke? He just wouldn't quit until—" Thankfully, Zay cut himself off after catching himself. Lucas felt his stomach plummet at his friend's near slip up. No one knew about what happened back in Texas and Lucas tried his damn hardest to make sure of that. He was a different person now, at least he thought he was until a week ago.

Their sudden silence intrigued Maya unfortunately, "What happened? What made you quit?" Even though the two didn't exchange a look because it would've made the situation a lot more suspicious, Zay seemed to read his mind.

"Hey Luke, where's your basketball? If we don't leave soon, the court will be filled with NBA rejects."

He mentally let out a sigh of relief, "Should be by my bed." Their 'smooth' execution though seemed to be anything but. Maya wasn't swayed by their swift change of subject. Instead she glanced between the two of them and tried to catch what she missed. And she waited until Zay had disappeared into Lucas' room to question the cowboy without any interruptions.

"So, what made you quit?"

Continuing his act, Lucas eyed her confusedly, "Quit what?" He pretended to ignore the scowl of death she sent his way because of how frustrated she was getting. He just decided to focus on how much he wanted her to drop the subject of him and high school.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, huckleberry." Her blue eyes were unrelenting and if Lucas wasn't so adamant about protecting his home life from people, he would've admired her persistence. In this case though, he wished she was as easy to distract as his puffball cat.

"I really don't, Maya."

She opened her mouth to say something but Zay returned from his room, interrupting her. He shot them both a bright smile while holding up the basketball. Finally, Lucas thought to himself.

"Alright you two," Zay said while pushing both of towards the door, "Enough chit chat, let's play."

* * *

The court was empty like Lucas had anticipated. It was early afternoon on a weekday which meant that all the young kids that come out to practice were in school. Which also meant that the three of them now had a basketball court all to themselves.

Zay had remained on Mission: Distract Maya from Asking about What Happened in High School their whole walk there, which Lucas realized was failing horribly whenever Maya shot him a look.

After he asked her the least distracting questions like what her favorite color was, he took to Plan B where he took the cat from Lucas' arms and handed it to her. The cat did nothing but momentarily take her mind off of the Lucas basketball incident and Lucas knew this.

She's been curious about him since Coney Island where she hustled him in order to get information. Lucas hadn't known her for her long but he knew that when she was curious about something she wouldn't let it go.

Once they reached the park, Lucas decided to step in.

"Zay, I think before we start the game, we should give our guest a few pointers on how to play." At that, Maya stopped playing the cat's ears and looked at them.

"What makes you think I need pointers, Ranger Rick?"

"Well, have you played basketball before?" Zay asked.

"Well no but I don't like that people like huckleberry assume I haven't." Maya said and glared at Lucas as if he asked the question.

"Who are people like me?" He asked trying to hide his smile at how ridiculous she was being.

Maya raised her brow in question, probably surprised he even responded to her accusation, "Pretentious southern people. No offense, Zay."

He raised a hand to dismiss it, "None taken. Us southern people  _are_  very pretentious."

"What if  _I_  find it offensive?" Lucas asked and Maya smirked at him. She strut over to him and said coolly, "Well then that's just too bad, huh?" If either of them would've looked away from each other then they would've saw Zay looking between the two of them both amused and curious.

Zay dribbled the basketball once and it reeled their attention back to him. He then chest passed the ball to Lucas who caught it and tried his hardest to not walk over and strange him for throwing the ball so hard.

And it seemed that his friend knew exactly what he did because he wore the same smug look until Lucas turned to guide Maya closer to the basket. He hadn't realized how close the two of them had gotten to it until Maya spoke up.

"Jeez, how badly do you think I'll miss the basket, huckleberry? I  _am_  capable of throwing the ball without having to be underneath the damn basket." He heard someone chuckle behind him yet he hoped that his best friend would try to step in and defend him.

"You tell him, Maya." Zay said instead.

Wishful thinking really didn't get him anywhere.

Ignoring his traitor of a friend, he held out the basketball to Maya who in turn gave him his semi asleep cat. Never really dawned on him 'till that moment  _why_ the cat was there with them instead of in the apartment. It wasn't like they were walking it, it had no collar and the more obvious one being that it was a cat. As if the puffball could read his mind, it looked up at annoyed.

He guessed the cat was fully asleep when Maya passed it to him. Lucas began scratching behind it's ear in hopes that it'll go back to resting.

Just as he thought the ear scratching was working, Zay began to cheer as loud as his voice would allow. Lucas felt lucky that the cat didn't scratch him. He looked up to see Maya walking back from the basket with the ball in hand, smiling over at her cheerleader.

"That was close, Maya. You just have to fix your stance." He called to her from the bench. For a moment, Lucas thought his friend would get up and show her how to properly shoot but instead hollered at  _him._

"Go ahead, Lucas. Show her. I'll hold the cat." A sinking feeling set in Lucas when he looked at Zay. It wasn't that his friend wore smug expression or even a plotting one but Lucas knew that Zay did certain things for a reason. And he had a sneaking suspicion that there was a reason that he told Lucas to go show Maya instead of him doing it himself.

"I think you should just do it, Zay. I think Ranger Rick has been away from the court too long and doesn't know what he's doing." Maya said and made sure to stare at Lucas the whole time she spoke. It was clear that she was taunting him. There didn't need to be much thought behind him saying no to helping her. Each time he's been near her in the past 24 hours, it's been a disaster.

Prime example being that the two of them almost kissed the previous night.

And the worst part was that Maya seemed to remember none of it. She didn't remember their argument and surely not what happened afterwards so he looked like a complete spaz from the moment he asked her if she wanted to go out that day.

If he didn't help her, it would make the situation more uncomfortable for him since neither of Zay nor Maya knew what happened. He really was left with no choice but to go help Maya if he  _really_ thought about it. He quickly handed the cat to Zay before turning to face Maya again.

"Just give me the ball, Maya." He said striding over to her and holding out his hand. Although she merely dropped the ball in his hand instead of placing it and bit back a smile at the glare he gave her.

Tossing the ball in his hands, he turned toward the basket.

"So all you have to do is make sure your feet are apart and your knees are bent," He parted his feet then bent his knees and checked to see if she was paying attention. He hadn't realized that he assumed she wouldn't be until his heart leaped at the sight of her focusing intently on his stance.

For this reason, he  _prayed_ that the ball went into the basket.

A sigh of relief nearly left him when the ball swooshed through the net.

Lucas walked to the basket to get the ball and nearly grinned at the sight of Maya trying to part her feet like he had them. It was odd yet amusing how focused she was on copying what he told her.

When he finally stood in front of her to give her the ball, he had to clear his throat to get her attention on him. Immediately she took the ball and lifted it in the air, ready to shoot.

But her stance was off.

"Your feet are spread too far apart and your wrists are too stiff." Lucas said without thinking. It came out rougher than he intended and the eye roll he got from the girl in front of him.

"Then show me what my stance is supposed to look like, oh wise one." Because she was already annoyed with him, it seemed his body thought he had nothing left to lose. So instead of demonstrating the stance one more time, he decided to fix her position.

His feet nudged hers to move closer together and he completely missed how off guard she was with how close he was. His next focus was her wrists that were too stiff and now that he thought about it, her hands were too low.

"Aim higher, like this." Without a second thought, he grabbed her wrist and lifted them up almost above her head. Then, his brain realized what the hell he was doing. The moment her blue eyes looked from his hands on her wrist to his face, his stomach plummeted.

Now was not the time to get flashbacks. Especially because she had no idea what was making him act weird that day.

"Hey, Luke. Can you come here for a sec?" Zay asked from the bench.

More things started to process in his brain again.

He was too close for comfort after what would've happened last night with her. He was being stupid and should be thankful to Zay. Also noted that Zay was still there and could've bore witness to how much of an idiot his friend was.

"Sure." He dropped her wrists and didn't take a second look at her before speed walking over to Zay and the cat.

Rather than the two of them talking at the bench, Zay had them walk farther but not before warning Maya, "Keep practicing, Hart. I just gotta borrow your coach really quick." He smiled at her to reassure her then dragged Lucas towards the entrance of the court.

"Have you talked to Missy?"

If there was anything Lucas expected Zay to ask him, it wasn't that.

"What? No. Why?" A sudden feeling of guilt came over him. He turned around to find Maya practicing free throws and not paying the two of them the least bit attention.

"That's why." He heard Zay say and spun back to face him. His friends eyes were on Maya too.

"What does Maya have to do with Missy?"

Zay glanced back at his friend, incredulously. "What does Maya have to do with Missy? Hm. Let's see, a week ago, you were in love with Missy. You were torn up about the fact that you guys hadn't talked for what, a day? Yet you two manage to fight again because you were being an ass."

An ass? Lucas opened his mouth to explain yet couldn't find anything  _to_ explain. That night he had been so caught up in seeing her again and  _so_ happy that the moment she mentioned being with someone else, it hurt. He'd spent their time apart thinking about how he could fix their relationship and she was out partying. Their last fight had effected him too.

Now that he thought about it, last night was when he fully admitted that he screwed things up with Missy. Albeit Maya was drunk and won't remember him confessing all that but still. Even though Missy didn't treat him like a defective, it was because he didn't tell her that he was. He's kept up the image of someone he's wanted to be since he left Texas with Zay.

Being around Missy gave him hope that eventually all the darkness of his past would go away. But they didn't. They resurfaced at the church with the old man. Which got him demoted and planted him in Maya Hart's life.

The talented contemporary artist who lost her mind one night out of nowhere.

She wasn't anything like he expected. Somehow in the span of four days he's been away from Missy, he didn't feel as glum. He didn't feel like the world would come to an end if he didn't get in contact with her. He'd even go as far to say that his bitterness about her being with someone during their first fight was completely behind him.

Something changed over those four days and Lucas didn't see all of it as a bad thing.

A soft meow stopped his thoughts from venturing further.

"Luke, are you even listening to me?" Zay waved a hand in front of his face. His green eyes flew from the cat to Zay's annoyed face.

"I am now." He answered sheepishly.

Zay rolled his eyes then continued, "I said you need to talk to Missy. Before you continue your little back and forth with Maya, you need to get everything out in the open with Missy. Make sure that those old feelings are gone before you start something new, Luke. That way no one gets hurt." His brown eyes searched Lucas' for a moment like they were trying to relay something more than what he just said.

If that was true, Lucas got nothing.

But Zay seemed to think differently and decided the two were done talking. He began to walk back towards Maya while shouting, "Pass me the ball, Hart. I'll show you how a  _real_  basketball player practices free throws."


	19. fine, i don't want you to walk me

**B** eing around Zay and Lucas was different.

It wasn't hard to figure out that the two have known each other for a very long time. Maya envied how easy their friendship seemed. Seeing the two of them reminded her of herself and Riley three months ago.

They reminded her of her friendship with Farkle and Isadora too.

A strange thought suddenly popped into her head about what it would be like to have them there with her. For a moment, she entertained the thought. Would they be just as amused as she was watching Zay and Lucas? Would they have been just as curious as to what Lucas was keeping from telling her in his apartment? She could see Riley being the bubbly cheerleader from the sidelines while Farkle and Maya attempted to shoot. Farkle wouldn't make a single shot and would then claim that basketball was a stupid sport anyway. Isadora would then go and score first try because she was Isadora and outdid Farkle in everything.

The possibility of her old friends being there reminded of her of the very reason they wouldn't be there with her. Three months ago, the emails.

So she dismissed those thoughts altogether.

Instead she focused on how poised Zay was when he shot free throws. He didn't make a single basket in the ten minutes he's been instructing her to follow through on the different positions he stood in before shooting. His amusing instructions as a coach almost took her mind off the fact that Lucas had stayed quiet the remainder of the time they were at the basketball court.

What bugged her most was that she was 99.9 percent sure that she knew the cause for his silence but not the specifics. He'd gone from being a chill yet secretive Lucas to a quiet, reserved Lucas that thought it would be better to sit on the bench and stay quiet than play with her and Zay. All he was doing was sitting there keeping to himself but it was driving Maya crazy.

When the time came for them to go back, Maya wondered if he would snap out of whatever funk talking to Zay had put him in.

For the beginning of their walk back to Maya's, he didn't. The gaps of silence were filled with any observations Zay had about the city at sunset. "I never knew they were so many piles of garbage on the streets."

"I've counted nine murals in the past ten minutes. New York is so artsy."

"You know a man never really gets used to a place like this. So much going on."

When they were nearing the halfway point to Maya's house, Zay suddenly wasn't interested in the scenery anymore. He stopped after they crossed the street to pull out his phone and answer a call.

"Hello? Vanessa? What's going on? You need me right now?" He said with a worried expression, if Maya wasn't slightly invested in Zay's phone call she would've finally seen a change in Lucas' reaction. The change hadn't been a pleasant one. Zay continued to nod along to Vanessa until he spared a glance at Maya and Lucas who were looking back at him.

He put a hand over his phone and sighed defeatedly, "So, I won't be able to continue this wonderful walk with the two of you. M'lady calls." As if he was reassuring Maya's suspicion that Zay didn't know the meaning of personal space, he pulled Maya into a quick side hug and said, "Maya, it's been a pleasure." then looked at Lucas who seemed angry at his friend's sudden departure. Before Zay turned around she could've sworn he saw him wink at Lucas but didn't have enough time to be suspicious because Lucas had began walking as soon as Zay turned around.

During the beginning of their walk, Maya wondered what changed in the time they'd been playing basketball. She hadn't known him very long but Maya knew that the state their relationship was now, they were able to have a conversation without it being awkward. Yet she couldn't help but feel like things weren't as easygoing during their walk like she'd hoped.

After giving him plenty of opportunities to strike up a conversation with her so things wouldn't be so quiet and weird, Maya ultimately decided that the mood of their walk home would be up to her.

"Thank you. For today." She said softer than she meant to. Still, it got his attention like she had just shouted it to him. Lucas looked over at her like he just realized she was there with him.

"What do you have to thank me for?" He questioned genuinely confused. Maybe she shouldn't have just blatantly thanked him...

"You know," She began at an attempt to sound nonchalant, "My life hasn't been picture perfect lately especially after what happened yesterday at the dinner. I just needed something to take my mind off of it and you and Zay were able to do just that." Her eyes looked forward, afraid of receiving the look of pity she despised but she got something she didn't expect.

A soft chuckle, "Yeah, Zay is pretty good at distracting people from their problems. Probably because he doesn't know when to stop talking." Maya peaked over at him just in time to catch the small smile playing on his lips. She looked forward again and tried to ignore how giddy seeing Lucas smile made her.

"I'm sure you're used to it by now being his best friend and all." Maya said cautiously. There was more she wanted to say but didn't want to ruin the moment and make him ignore her the rest of the way.

" _Now._ But Zay is still an acquired taste for some people who think he's this or that because of his big mouth. That's how he used to get himself into trouble back in Texas." Lucas hadn't seen the mildly shocked look on Maya's face because if he had, he would've backtracked talking about his life in Texas with Zay. Something that earlier on that day, the two avoided telling her about.

Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, "Is that how you guys met?" Her casual act must've been phenomenal because unlike before, he didn't stop to question why she was asking him further. Instead he just answered,

"We met in seventh grade, our first year at middle school. The eighth graders had a tendency to treat the seventh graders like crap for the majority of the first month. I was thankfully off their radar because I looked older but some people like Zay weren't. Then finally Zay spoke up and was the only one in our grade to do so. He talked tough but didn't have anyone to back him up if anything got crazy. So the day after he stood up to them, I heard in one of my electives that a group of eighth grade boys were going to jump him after school. They caught him behind the bleachers and I showed up just in time...with the teachers to back him up. And I've done so ever since."

Maya tried to focus on the fact that Lucas had just told her a tidbit about his past willingly and not the fact that he hesitated when he talked about actually backing Zay up that day. Lucas protected him. He didn't even know him at the time but he protected him.

"I guess I was wrong about you, huckleberry. There's more to you than just herding cattle." Her mind went to how kind he was to her in the basement. She still hadn't managed to think of why he comforted her even though he didn't know her or her true situation. At least she didn't until that moment.

Since the moment Lucas Friar stepped into her life, Maya has been trying to figure him out. Figure out who he was when he wasn't around her or her family. Maybe he was different than the guy who hugged her when she was on the verge of tears. Maybe he wasn't the same guy who went to Coney Island with her but he was. In the near week she's been around him, Maya could say that Lucas was a good person which seemed like a rarity in the life she lived now.

Until that moment, she hadn't realized how happy the thought of having someone so kind or more specifically someone like  _Lucas_ in her life was.

"Hm." He pondered before smiling at her, "There's also more to you, Maya."

"Me? I didn't save anyone when I was in seventh grade." She said really looking at him now to catch the impish grin on his face.

"You don't have to save someone to have other qualities. For example, who knew you were so terrible at basketball?" He joked and flinched when she went to smack his arm although she was fighting a smile of her own.

"You're so hilarious, huckleberry. I guess that's another quality a lot of people must not know about. Your excellent sense of humor." She deadpanned which only made him laugh more. It was a laugh that was loud and contagious, making it harder for her to keep a straight face and argue with him.

"C'mon, Maya. If I would have complimented you at playing basketball, you would've gotten cocky."

"How would you know? You've never complimented me before." Maya challenged him. Slowly, the smile slid from his face and he looked thoughtfully at her.

Then suddenly the mischievous glint in his eye returned, "Did you want me to?" He teased her. The infuriating smirk on his face was enough to make her go back to looking at the cars rushing past them and the city lights. Anything to distract from the way her heart started pounding at the sight of him staring back at her.

"O-Of course not, huckleberry. Don't be ridiculous. That would involve me caring about your opinion which I really don't. Honestly, Friar. Who do you think I am?" She answered quickly hoping that he didn't get the wrong idea. She didn't want him to compliment her. She didn't even want his opinion on her.

"This is just speculation, Hart but it seems a little like you're trying to convince yourself that you don't care about my opinion."

"I'm not! The only delusional one here is you."

"Yet I wasn't the one who wanted  _you_  to compliment  _me_."

"I didn't want you to compliment me!" Just when she thought he couldn't do anything else to annoy her further, he reaches out and grabs her hand to pull her to where he stopped. "Now what?"

"You see that building?" He turned her to face the same way as him before asking, "You live there, don't you?" She hated that that was one thing in the conversation she couldn't fight him on because to her misfortune she did.

Maya made a face before stepping away from him to cross the street but to her dismay he followed, "You know you don't have to walk me to my door, huckleberry. I'm a big girl." She fished for her keys in her pocket when he answered her.

"I'm trying to be a gentleman here, Maya." He defended and when they reached the sidewalk she whipped around to face him.

"Oh really? That's funny because all night you've been trying and succeeding to be a pain in the ass."

"If you don't want me to walk you then just say so."

"Fine, I don't want you to walk me. Good night, huckleberry." Without even a wave to bid him farewell or a response from him, Maya left him standing at the corner. She still needed to get her frustration towards him under control because he'd managed to ground the last of her patience into the ground once Zay left the two of them. Just when she thought he was an innocent southern boy who protected his friend, he goes and messes with her just because he can. But she showed him, she thought happily.

On her way to the door, a sense of victory washed over her. He may have bested her when he mentioned him complimenting her and the weight of his opinion to her but the only one who was going to be left gaping was going to be—

"Hey, Maya!" Lucas called out to her. She stopped but didn't turn around. Without her responding he continued, "You looked beautiful today." Maya immediately flipped him off which only made him laugh, before walking inside her building biting back a smile and shaking her head.

Her relationship with Lucas Friar seemed to be getting more interesting day by day.


	20. good because i'm not pretending

**H** e really was out of his mind.

Out of all the things he sat up night thinking about, like taking care of the cat in his apartment or even following Zay's advice and speaking to Missy finally, one thing consumed his thoughts and he felt childish and strange remembering his restlessness last night because of said thoughts.

His mind drifted to his conversation with Maya the night before and the dilemma that had left him restless appeared once more. There was a part of him that day that blocked out Zay's words. It blocked out the much needed conversation he needed with Missy and the ever growing desire he had to lock away his dark past. Instead it shined a light on the girl that infuriated him, flooded him with the sudden need to protect her and tell her how beautiful she was. She'd brought out the playful side he thought he only had around Missy and Zay and for the past few days with his problem at the church then his transfer all while fighting with the girl he thought he was in love with. That same half of him contemplated which flannel to put on that day, something he hasn't done since high school. His wardrobe consisted of the same materials and colors anyway.

The other half of him though, the rational side that demanded he put down the two nearly identical flannels he held up in the mirror and get a grip, made him think about how badly thinking about Maya was. There was all the things Zay said at the basketball court about ending things with Missy before starting things with Maya but hadn't things already started. Their little dance around each other started the moment he confessed his demons to her in her drunken rage and she almost kissed him and he was ready to let her.

He knew he had to talk to Missy. He knew that he needed to clear up things with her but the side of him that was much too eager to see Maya won the rational side over and he was out the door without even sparing a glance at his neighbor's door.

[*]

 **M** aya didn't have the strength to throw paint like she had before. Instead she sat downstairs with two of her spare paint buckets she cracked open and was ready to chuck over her already splattered paintings. She felt tired and nearly fell asleep in the basement that morning but her mind wouldn't shut up for a second. The events of the night before kept replaying in her mind and kept her eyes and alert.

_Maya knew her father had the special ability of ruining anything good in her life and crushing any shred of happiness she ever had but when she walked through the door fighting her smile only to find her father sitting on the couch facing the door, waiting for her, the frown that replaced her smile was an instant reaction._

_He looked pissed, Maya could tell that much and she didn't need to really rack through events in her life to know what got him so pissed. The dinner, her outburst, she was too busy learning how to play basketball and pretending to be normal that she forgot the devil lived with her._

_"I was wondering if you were ever going to come home." He said and nearly sounded like a worried parent. Maya knew better though. Him wondering if she was ever going to "home" really meant, 'I was wondering if you were doing more shit to fuck up the_ _reputation I worked years to build for this family'._

_"Could you blame me if I didn't? I didn't do anything, Lucas was with me the whole time." That seemed to perk him up more than she thought and she wondered briefly if he really liked Lucas that much. It was almost like all the anger and tension he had left him. His shoulders slacked and he sat up straighter, his face no longer on his folded hands in his lap._

_"Good. I'm glad you're safe," 'I'm glad you didn't give us another scandal to try and explain' "But I have to discuss the matters at hand, the Matthews dinner was a disaster no thanks to your drunken tantrum. You offended one of the key members of that family who let me remind you, helped get you to the top. It helped you grow success as quickly as you did and I won't let you ruin another good thing for this family."_

_Looking him up and down, suddenly feeling numb at his words, Maya muttered, "What are you going to do? Put me in time out?" She thought that might've made him angrier or possibly storm away or yell some nonsense about her being a disgrace again but instead he chuckled darkly._

_"No, even though you insist on acting like a child, I won't treat you like one. Although I did hear news about Riley throwing a coming home party and I've made sure to let the Matthews family know you were insistent on attending. I told them you just couldn't live with yourself if you didn't apologize for the awful and mal-mannered things you shouted at dinner. You will attend and clean the mess you made." He got up and looked her in the eye as if there wasn't anything else to discuss after that. His word was final._

_Maya scoffed, "You think I'm actually gonna go to a party that I have no interest in? I won't apologize for saying how I feel and I'm not sorry if that offended you though I wouldn't be surprised. You always did hate hearing the truth."_

_"This isn't a discussion, Maya. I won't argue back and forth like you've been given a choice. You can either go to the party or you can go to_ _―"_

_"She'll attend the party, Mr. Hart. I'll go with her to make sure of it." A small voice spoke from the doorway to the kitchen. Maya turned to find her meek friend staring hard at her father not scurrying away from his glance like she usually did and speaking with more authority than Maya was used to. If she wasn't so shocked that Isadora just took her father's side, she would've applauded her._

_Her father looked nearly as shocked as Maya though he had a better poker face. He flashed Isadora a quick wry smile before nodding, "Be sure you're telling the truth, Ms. Smackle. I wouldn't want to hear of my daughter being caught up in some escapade with my maid. I don't tolerate being lied to especially not by my staff. Keep that in mind." Then he turned on his heel to go upstairs in silence like he hadn't just threatened the both of them._

_Maya waited until the door to her father's bedroom closed behind him before she ran to give Isadora a hug. They never really hugged outside of when Maya was in tears over the three month period, it was strange but Maya couldn't find a better way to thank her for getting her out of that mess with her father. That was Maya's initial thought for Isadora not hugging her back but when she pulled away, Isadora's face remained blank._

_"Isadora? Why aren't you celebrating? You actually convinced my dad you'd be taking me to that stupid party." Maya tried shaking her to remind her of her brilliant scheme that saved her but as Isadora continued staring at her with no hint of mischief on her face, Maya felt the sinking feeling in her stomach that she might've been wrong._

_"I wasn't trying to convince your dad of anything. I'm taking you to Riley's party, Ms. Hart."_

_"What? Why would you do that?" Maya asked, still searching Isadora's face for some sort of tell. But her friend has never been the type to lie to her before._

_"Because I'm your friend and one stupid party is much better than your father's alternative." A crack of emotion broke through Isadora's solemn expression and Maya could've sworn she saw her eyes glaze over._

_"My father's alternative? What are you talking about?"_

_"Your father's secondary plans, Ms. Hart. I'm sure you'd prefer going to some silly party over where he'd rather put you any day."_

_"Put me where? Isadora, you're not making any sense. How do you even know about his secondary plans?" Maya began to rub her temples as she stepped away from her. None of this added up. What had gotten Isadora so shaken up that she would agree with that egotistical monster? Isadora usually took her side, Isadora was the one to comfort her when she told her only a tidbit of what happened to her that night._

_Isadora was supposed to be her friend._

_"I hear him talk, Ms. Hart. But that's not what's important. What's important is that we go to the party and once it's over you'll be okay."_

_"No I won't be okay, Isadora! All the people at that party contributed to the shitty life I've been living these past three months and you're just going to gloss over all that because of some bullshit my dad said. Not to mention you haven't even told me what this so called 'threat' was."_

_"Just take my word for it. I'm doing what's best for you." Isadora stepped forward with her eyes wide with fear and frustration but Maya didn't care. All she could see was another person following the lies of her father. The threats, the deceit, the lies were all part of how her father managed to control everything in her world. Isadora was one of the things she thought he couldn't touch but she was wrong._

_"I can't believe this. You're taking his side again, aren't you? Just like before, you keep saying you know what's best for me but that's a lie. If you wanted what was best for me, you wouldn't make me go face those people and you would trust_ me _."_

_"I'm not going to argue with you on this, Ms. Hart." Isadora stood her ground with the same voice of authority she used when speaking to Maya's father but she no longer felt impressed or inclined to praise her. It made her sick, she was beginning to sound like her father too._

_"Good, because I have nothing else to say to you." Maya shook her head before going up to her room and counted her breaths until it started to even out again._

Maya had never argued with Isadora like that before. Usually, if they had a disagreement Isadora wouldn't counter or at least tell her she was wrong in a manner that wouldn't spur more fighting. Her one reliable friend in the whole house was gone and it was that point in that night that she felt truly alone. The miserable feeling threatened to wash over once more as she sat in the basement brooding but a knock brought her attention to the stairs.

She didn't want to say she was surprised to find a blindfolded Lucas cautiously making his way down the stairs with his arms stretched out but she was. With all the crap that happened last night with Isadora and her father, her night with Lucas had slipped her mind. But seeing him actively being this oddly gentleman like person actively keep up his promise to her was touching.

It brought a smile to her face before she even realized it was there.

"You lost?" She asked before pushing herself up off the floor to face him. His lips curved into a small smile before he breathed a laugh.

"Well technically I am. The blindfold does a great job of making everywhere I go seem the same." His hands were still out and as his fingers cautiously reach out for a wall to steady him, Maya couldn't help the small laugh that slipped out at the sight of him. He looked so unlike the usually put together cowboy she was used to. Strange how she could even say she's used to him after not even a week with him. It made her feel giddy again like she had the previous night. After the hell she'd been through, being around him and Zay felt normal. It felt like she could forget about the last three months for a few hours and be Maya. No Hart named stamped along with it or article that labeled her as crazy. She-

"Isadora told me about what happened between the two of you." Lucas stated softly. She blinked at him, realizing that her thoughts had traveled past the paint filled basement and to a night filled with walks, a small cat meowing and lighthearted banter. And with one sentence Lucas dragged her back to her situation at home with her father and now the girl who used to be her close friend.

"Did you really come down here to lecture me? Or maybe have me poor out my feelings? If you expect either I'd just make my way back up the stairs. Especially if she put you up to this." She quipped and turned away from him to continue her sulking on the floor but a better idea popped into her head. Grabbing a paint brush she'd thrown by the wall the last time she was down here, Maya made her way to the buckets of paint that were open and dipped the brush in.

Lucas being none the wiser remained where he was and cleared his throat, "Maya, I came down here as your friend. I wanted to make sure you were okay and hear what happened between you and Isadora." Just as he put his hands on his hips to show how stern he was, a splash of paint hit his cheek and chest. He stumbled as if he'd been shot and lightly touched two fingers to his cheek.

"I really hope this is paint." He said as Maya chuckled. She shook her head before dipping her brush in paint again and walking over to him.

"What else would it be?" She asked once she was in front of him.

"Your way of telling me to shut up." He joked just as she swiped the brush across the side of his neck. His loud gasp nearly drowned out the sound of her laughter and if she'd been paying more attention to his hands rather than his face, she would've seen him reach out and try to grab her. Lucas managed to grab her wrist and nearly toppled over when she tried moving so he could let go.

He clumsily made his way off the stairs, his arms back to being stretched out as Maya backed away from him, biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"You can't hide from me, Hart. I'm highly trained." He hadn't realized his slip up until Maya's laughter died down. He prayed that she wouldn't ask him questions about what that meant and that he was only doing it to distract her. Fortunately for him, as he tried moving around the basement full of buckets of paint she spoke up just enough for him to find her.

"What do you mean you're—Lucas!" She shrieked as he grabbed her arms and pulled her to him. He began rubbing his paint covered cheek against her hair, hoping to spread as much paint as he could. Just as he pulled away, another slab of cold paint was swiped onto his other cheek followed by Maya's laughter. Lucas tried reaching for her again but she had moved out of his reach and he knew where she went just as more paint was flung at him. He kept trying to follow the sound of her laughter but she was clever and kept moving as more and more paint was being thrown at him.

Finally when he felt like he'd been walking around in circles without finding her, an idea popped into his head. He stopped where he was and got down on his knees with both his hands up.

"I surrender. You win." His shirt was nearly soaked through with all the paint and his hands felt sticky from trying to wipe it but he stayed in the same position. He heard her footsteps approach him until she stood directly in front of him, just as he was hoping she would.

"Good boy, Friar. Now, there will be no more questions about Isadora or my father as of now. Got it?" She said coolly that Lucas had to bite back his smile as he nodded his head still looking defeated.

"Yes ma'am." He saluted her.

"Good, now—no!" She bellowed as Lucas reached for hands to drag her down to him and his paint covered self. A squish sounded once she landed on top of him and he hugged her close as he rubbed his cheek to her hair and face like he did before.

"Huckleberry, stop! I mean it! You're all sticky!"

"And who's fault is that?" He answered without letting her go.

"Stop, seriously!" Her complaints though had morphed into what seemed like endless giggles.

"Not unless you tell me what happened between you and Isadora." That killed the giggles almost instantly. Her breath evened out as she stilled in his arms.

"You don't have to do that, huckleberry. Pretending to care isn't part of your job." Maya said in a hushed voice that reminded him of the last time he'd been in the basement with her.

"Good because I'm not pretending." He heard her take a shaky breath and hoped she wasn't crying. If it was possible, he gripped her a little tighter hoping she would know that he was serious.

She adjusted her head to lean more against his neck rather than his soaked chest, "She sided with him, Isadora sided with the one man I can't stand. I don't know why and it scares me to think that the only friend I have in this house is agreeing with him on anything. He's so selfish and has never cared about me once, Isadora knows that. She knows everything he's done to me and yet she still took his side. I got deja vu and decided that coming down here would be better than laying in my bed crying about it. I've cried enough because of that man."

She wasn't crying now and was close enough for him to feel every word against his neck as she breathed out. He tried to calm his pounding heartbeat and focus on comforting her. His curiosity ended up weaving it's way to the forefront of his mind, however and took control of his mouth.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Maya remained quiet for a moment and Lucas feared that he said something he shouldn't have. Talking about her father was touchy and foreign because he only knows that Mr. Hart is an evil person in Maya's eyes, he always wondered why though. What could make a daughter hate her father that much?

"He was fresh into his new marriage when I moved in with him. My mom had just passed away from breast cancer when I was 15 and I was kinda forced on him. The press gave him a lot of attention for taking me in like I was some orphan instead of the child he left behind. He treated me decent, but I wanted more. I wanted him to treat me like he wasn't forced to take care of me but wanted to. I wanted him to look at me with pride like I was everything to him. When he enrolled me in boarding school to get rid of me, I thought it was out of love. I thought he wanted me to go to the best school. It was there that I became friends with Riley and Farkle and discovered how much I loved art and how good I was at it. It was around that time that my father found out as well since my art teacher had me enter in different competitions to bring attention to my talent. When my father found out I won two out of the three contests I was entered in, he looked at me...like I was Sophia. He treated me like I was Sophia and I loved it. I-I thought my dad finally loved me. He brought all this media attention to me, I got to network and meet all these popular contemporary artists who told me they were fans of my work but all I could think about that night was how my father would introduce me as his daughter. The attention he gave me blinded me to how greedy he was through it all. All he saw was the money I was going to bring him. So, he micromanaged me and when I was about to open my own art gallery he controlled what art pieces were going in it. None of my initial paintings were deemed acceptable so I painted all new ones that I hated but he loved them so I tried to love them too. The night before my gallery opening, Riley had gone and there was a party I wanted to go to to get my mind off the pressure of the gallery and missing Riley so I went. I drank more than I should've but I still remember what happened that night. I remember hands running all over me and trying to scream for him to stop, he covered my mouth and kept telling me to shush I pleaded for him to _stop_ but he never did." She hiccuped as a tear fell and landed on Lucas' shirt. He rubbed his thumb along her shoulder and down her arm, whispering, "It's okay, Maya. I'm here."

He thought she was going to stop and he wasn't going to push her now that he knew how heavy the conversation was getting and how much it affected her. But she did, in a voice just above a whisper.

"I went home the next morning, hoping someone would help me when I told them what happened. My father unfortunately was the first person that I ran into. I spouted about everything that happened and how shitty I felt and all he could say was, 'You were drunk, you probably just imagined it. Now go get dressed for the gallery opening.' But I didn't imagine it, I saw him in the bed next to me, I saw my clothes on the floor. I pressed the subject because it felt like he didn't believe me. He said, 'You have to keep that to yourself, Maya. If this gets out, no one is gonna care about the gallery. All they'll be talking about is this. Not to mention what it'll do to his career. Do you really wanna be known for something like that?' He really thought I gave a shit about any of that. I was _raped_ and all he could talk about was the _fucking_ gallery. I hated him for doing that to me, so I did what I knew would hurt him and ruined my own gallery at the opening in front of everyone. It was after that that he began to be more open about his dislike for me, calling me a problem child as if he didn't know why. A father should protect his daughter but mine didn't. I hate him, Lucas. I really do."

"I'm so sorry, Maya. I'm so sorry." He said and lifted her hands up to his lips as he pressed a kiss to the palm of her hands.


	21. you what?

**M** aya hated not talking to Isadora. She hated that she couldn't get Isadora's advice when faced with her problems. She hated not being able to ask for pancakes and she hated that she stayed in her room, feigning sleep so that Isadora wouldn't knock on her door and call her for breakfast. Some might say that she's being immature and that if she missed Isadora so much, she should just talk to her already but something wasn't letting her.

It was the secret that Isadora was keeping from her, Maya wondered if it was something Isadora shared with Maya's father. She wondered why the two of them knew something she didn't. It bothered her enough to not talk to her when she finally descended the stairs to go to the kitchen and make herself scrambled eggs. She ignored Isadora's move forward to try and talk to her, Maya placed her eggs into a clear glass plate she had grabbed from the cabinet and scarfed down her eggs so she could get out of the kitchen before she confessed to Isadora how much she missed her and why she was keeping something important from her. Maya knew that Isadora didn't know every single thing that went on with Maya but the important stuff, she made sure to share. Why couldn't Isadora?

Maya kept her poker face though and pushed Isadora to the side as the dreadful thought of attending Riley's party that day came to mind. That was another part of the reason Maya didn't want to talk to Isadora. She was helping Maya's father by taking her to Riley's party also referred to in Maya's mind as the last place on Earth she'd like to be. When she went to the basement, Maya took in the absolute wreck it was in because of the paint fight she had with Lucas the day before. Even though the feeling of being pressed against his wet, sticky chest wasn't the most romantic in the world, Maya still felt herself smile at the thought of being in his arms. That same feeling she had the first time he hugged seemed to amplify this time and not only did she feel safe but she felt loved?

Probably just her thinking too much into it but regardless the thought was endearing and nice when compared to what's been going outside her relationship with Lucas. The uptight cowboy somehow managed to take her mind off of Riley, Isadora and her father if only for a moment and for that she was grateful. She was also thankful to him for being their to listen to her tell her story in full for the first time without tears. She remembered when she told Isadora she wasn't even able to get out his name without sobbing or feeling nauseous. His name still struck a chord with her but she knew that mentioning it to Lucas would do them both no good. It wasn't like Lucas was going to report it to the police but that could've been the side of her brain that worried that her father may have been right about the whole thing.

Did she really want her name mentioned with his for the rest of her life? What if no one believed her? She didn't need alleged attached to her name like crazy was. She would remain silent for now, wishing and hoping that her father would fall into a scandal followed by rotting in hell. Besides what was Lucas going to do? Lock him up? Maya wasn't sure as the image of what Lucas would do once he found out _who_ raped her didn't fully develop in her mind. She didn't know how he would react just like she didn't know what his job was before he came to take care of her, just like she didn't know how long Lucas had been living in New York for. When she really sat and thought about it, she didn't know a thing about Lucas yet he knew her darkest secret. He knew what haunted her dreams, he knew that she argued with her friends, he knew that she liked to paint and was terrible at basketball.

Maya knew he was good at basketball as he was at boardwalk games. She knew that he could potentially be in a relationship with another girl that he didn't like talking about. She knew he had a cat that was untrained and that he wasn't making progress to train it or at least buy it a litter box. She also knew that all this lack of information was going to change today especially if she was going to let her feelings develop any further than they already have.

It felt ridiculous to admit that within a week, the cowboy had gotten a hold over heart. She didn't love him, that'd be crazy and ridiculous and absolutely impossible because she'd _just_ met him. But she had a feeling, like something lit up when she saw him and _that_ feeling she couldn't deny especially when she heard him stumble down the stairs, once again wearing his makeshift blindfold with his red flannel

Lucas knew that Maya was taking up his thoughts more than she should. She's supposed to be the girl he's taking care of, especially now that he realized how much shit she's been through in the past three months. He knew that his father's feelings towards him were a little mixed because of what happened in Texas but he couldn't imagine his father telling him to keep to himself about something that traumatic. On his way to Maya's, his phone buzzed and if his mind wasn't in the clouds thinking about Maya he probably would've ignored it because it could only be one of two people.

It could be Zay telling him some story about Vanessa or work.

Or it could be Missy who he highly doubted was going to text him or call him because of their fight. But lo and behold, there was a text message from Missy. The text read, _can we talk?_

But he didn't want to talk. He didn't even know what he would say. Their fight happened in the heat of his anger and jealousy but things felt different now. Only a few days with Maya and Zay seemed to change his mindset completely, he didn't know how or why but it did. Now, seeing her message made him wonder if one conversation would put him back in the place where he was in love with Missy. Lucas decided to put all that to the back of his mind as he slipped his phone back in his pocket.

Today was about Maya and how he was going to try his hardest to be someone in her life worth trusting with a secret like that. When Isadora opened the door for him, she just motioned to the basement without uttering a word. He wondered briefly how long her standoff with Maya was going to be. There was no doubt in his mind that the two of them missed each other, they were just too stubborn or afraid to step up and say something. He knew he had to get Maya to hear Isadora out otherwise the two of them would continue to suffer in silence.

With his mind set, he made his way to the basement, almost thinking of it as his and Maya's hideaway now. He shrugged off his red flannel once he reached the first step and wrapped it around his head, making sure it was wrapped tight and he was unable to see anything around him. He might've taken a few more steps down the stairs before Maya's voice rang out to stop him.

"Freeze!" she told him and he listened, "I realized something yesterday, huckleberry. I realized that I know absolutely nothing about you so before you take another step, tell me a secret." she sounded serious and assured in her demand to him, making him wonder how long she'd been sitting on this realization. He stayed quiet and contemplated her request.

"I've never had a girlfriend before." he blurt out and cringed at the embarrassing fact. He cringed most of all because of how unnecessary the comment was, why was he mentioning his love life or lack thereof to her?

 _To avoid talking about what the_ real _secret is,_ his mind tormented him.

"Not good enough." she dismissed him and he frowned. He could feel a faint draft and noted that the strong smell of paint had faded. _Was there a window down here?_ he wondered.

"Then what _is_ good enough?"

" _Your_ secret. Something that...changed you, I guess. Something you wouldn't be comfortable sharing with just anyone." she said softly and Lucas knew why. It was because of what she told him yesterday. He hadn't realized until that moment that the severity and importance of him knowing that information was a novelty to her. The only two people who knew beside him were Isadora and her father. Both of whom she isn't on good terms as of now and both of them she knew much longer than the week she's known him.

If he wanted her to trust him, he knew that he had to tell her about his past. He took a deep breath, "Remember what I told you about me defending Zay when we were younger?"

"Yeah." she answered, a tone a bit stronger than before.

"Well, I defended him without the help of any teachers. I found Zay backed up against the wall with three eighth graders surrounding him, Zay saw me and shouted my name, I didn't even know he knew it at the time but he just sounded so helpless...I had to protect him. So, I grabbed one of the eighth graders and punched him in the face, I ended up breaking his nose and giving him a nosebleed. The other two guys who were with him were scared shitless and ran and their leader soon followed. After that I sort of became Zay's best friend/protector. Whenever he needed me, I was there. Even if the situation would leave me in trouble, I had to save him. When we go to high school, the situations Zay got in got a bit more serious. Our senior year of high school, a guy that graduated in the class before us invited us to a frat party. We went and Zay ended up dancing with one of the frat guys' girlfriends. I remember playing beer pong when someone bumped into me, people were yelling about there being a fight outside in the back. I followed them out of curiosity and I saw Zay on the ground, holding his stomach and blood coming out of his mouth. There were six guys over him, kicking him and punching him. And I lost it. I don't remember what happened but I broke the fight up and ended up putting two of the guys in the hospital. I had never lost control like that before and it was after that day that people started treating me differently. They kept treating me like some freak, no one talked to me beside Zay and eventually all the talk of me being dangerous to the community reached my parents. I've never seen my mom so disappointed, and my dad won't even speak to me because of what I did. So, I moved to New York and Zay came with me. I figured it was a new start for both of us. I became a cop because I thought it would redeem me I guess, but it didn't. An armed robber ran into a church on 45th and Zay and I chased after him, we didn't want him to hurt any of the churchgoers so we thought it would be a good idea to have them leave that way we wouldn't have to worry about him taking a hostage. But this old man didn't want to listen to him and called him the n word, then kept telling him how people like him are what's ruining the country. It was like I was back at the frat house, I couldn't stop myself and now an old man is in the hospital. I got demoted that day and that's how I ended up here with you. I can't stop thinking about what I did though, Maya. If I really think about it, everyone in Texas was right. I am a monster." his voice lowered towards the end because it felt more like he was confessing than telling a secret.

Maya didn't say anything at first and Lucas worried that maybe she now thought he was a monster too. He did put an old man in the hospital because of his temper. The thought frightened him more than it should've. He couldn't see her face but pictured a mixture of horror and fear. The man she allowed in her space, the man that was supposed to take care of her, couldn't even do his job and take care of the people in the city. He didn't want to let his self pity consume him but it was hard not to when she wasn't saying anything to him.

He contemplated asking for her thoughts on what he just said but thought better of it. If she was okay with it, she would've said something already.

Just as his thoughts were lecturing him to go back upstairs, Maya's hand slipped into his. She then led him down the stairs, carefully until they were on solid ground.

His heart was thumping as he waited for her to speak. He didn't want to get his hopes up about her still wanting to be around him when he didn't get a verbal agreement to that.

"I know what it feels like to have everyone against you and peg you as something you're not. That's what made me go out onto that balcony that night. I thought if I ended it then no one's opinion would bother me anymore. I know how you feel, Lucas. And the person that I grew to know over the past week is _not_ a monster." she muttered to him.

He was shocked. There was no other way to describe it. He was so afraid of judgement from other people who would find out about his past and especially nervous about Maya finding out but it was all for not. She wasn't dismissing him but consoling him and he hadn't known how much he needed that until now.

Tears welled up in his eyes, her hands dropped from his and the darkness from his blindfold was pulled away from him and he saw Maya's soft smile directed at him. The room was lit by the natural light coming in from the small rectangular window above the shelf behind her. He was able to see the paint disaster that covered the gray concrete floor. He was able to see the originally white walls in a similar state to the floor with splattered paint covering it. Leaning up against the walls were framed canvases of artwork he couldn't make out because of the amount of paint covering it.

Maya had her blonde hair thrown up in a high ponytail, she had a white tube top on under her dark denim overalls and she was barefoot. It was the first time he openly admitted to himself how pretty he thought she was. Her blue eyes were looking at him nervously so he reached for her hand like she had with him and squeezed it assuringly.

"You have a lot of paint." he said dumbly. He wanted to shake his head for saying something so unnecessary and not at all comforting. What he did hear was her breathy laugh. His eyes flew from the framed painting by the wall to her small form in front of him. She was covering her mouth with the hand he wasn't holding and shaking her head, making her ponytail sway behind her.

"That was probably the last thing I expected you to say, huckleberry."

"W-What did you expect me to say?" he stuttered.

"I don't know. Something like, ' _wow_ Maya! You're such a talented artist! This is what I've been missing by wearing the stupid blindfold!'" she teased. He was almost thankful for it as the heavy tension in the room after his confession began to shift into an easier playful atmosphere.

"Hey! I only wore that because you said I wouldn't be able to come down here otherwise!"

"Well, you're the idiot that actually listened to me. You even let me throw paint all over you. You let me hustle you at Coney Island. Is there anything you wouldn't do for me at this point, huckleberry?"

"It's my job, Maya." he rolled his eyes at her attempts to lure him in to her game.

She tapped her finger against her chin, feigning being thoughtful, "Hm, last time I checked you're supposed to take care of me not care _about_ me."

"It's the same thing!" Lucas defended and had an inkling that the conversation was leading up to something else.

"Is not. Here's why, huckleberry. When you take care of someone, you feed them and cloth them. When you _care_ _about_ someone, you like them." she smirked like she just caught him in a trap. But Lucas wasn't a novice to Maya's teasing, taunting or trickery. In fact, he wanted her to continue.

"And you're saying I like you?" he lifted his brow in question. Maya didn't seem deterred by his sudden challenge though, she quirked her mouth to the side and bounced on the sole of her feet before landing on the ground again.

" _Maybe._ Would I be wrong?"

A voice appeared to him suddenly and it sounded an awful lot like Zay. He was telling him that he needed closure and that he needed to talk to Missy before he ever jumped into anything with Maya but she was taunting him. She was standing there looking effortlessly beautiful and he wanted to take her bait. He wanted to tell her the feelings that have consumed his mind for the past three days. He wanted to speak from his heart so he ignored Zay's voice echoing in his conscience and said,

"No."

She beamed at him and instead of running into his arms like he fully expected her to, she turned to walk away from him. He caught her hand before she could fully step away from him. She spun around looking bewildered as if she didn't understand him grabbing her.

"And you?" he prodded and her face scrunched further in confusion.

"And I what?"

He sighed deeply, "Are you really gonna make me ask? Are we in high school?"

"I don't know, sundance. Are we?" The ghost of a smile played on her lips and Lucas knew that she was messing with him. So, he pulled her closer to him until they were a few inches from each other and watched the smile disappear from her face.

"You're really driving me crazy, Hart."

"What did I do?" she eyed him innocently. Up close, the desire to kiss her was almost unbearable. Her full lips were parted and her clear blue eyes seemed to be holding him to that very spot.

"What did you do? How about giving me an answer on where you stand, huh?"

Her eyes fell from where they were meeting his own, down to his lips. Then she leaned in quickly and pecked his lips before he could react.

"I do." she took a step back after Lucas unintentionally released her hand.

"You what?" he shook his head to subdue the shock and stepped closer to her.

"I like you too." she answered simply.

"You what?" a grin appeared on his face when he reached for her hands and intertwined their fingers.

"I'm not saying it again."

"No?" he had their tangled hands held up by his face and he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Nope." she breathed.

His lips curved up into a smile before he tilted his head up and captured her lips in his own.


	22. but you scouted billy ross, right?

**H** is kiss lasted a second. At least it felt that way to Maya until he leaned in again and gave her another quick peck. The third kiss seemed to be what he was building up to though. Lucas kissed her gently, his lips moving against hers in a sweet caress. His hands left hers and cupped her face while her hands gripped his forearm. Maya felt the sudden rush of euphoria wash over her and couldn't stop herself from smiling. He brushed his lips against hers before pulling away and leaning his forehead against hers. She opened her eyes at the sudden contact and saw him displaying a lovesick smile of his own.

"I like you." Maya heard herself say right after she had told him that she wasn't saying it again. She blamed the kiss and the ridiculous amount of happiness she felt at the moment for her sudden memory loss. He pulled away from her completely at that and chuckled. It was breathy and warm. Maya liked it. _She liked him_.

"That's a relief, I almost thought the kiss might've been a deal breaker." he joked before pulling her back into his embrace. She shook her head against his shirt then let her head rest against his chest. His shirt smelled like musky cologne and laundry and Maya loved it. She was beginning to feel like there was a pattern forming. Lucas let his head rest on top of hers as his eyes scanned the basement, taking it all in again. It seemed that after the kiss, Lucas felt like he saw the basement differently. It was more than just her escape as it had frames of work leaning up against the side and back walls. It was then that he realized that he never saw any of her work before.

A sudden curiosity and fear spurred him to speak, "All these frames and canvases are from your gallery?" he felt her nod into his chest. His eyes flew from one paint splattered frame to the next, all of them being almost completely covered the secondary paint. Lucas imagined her paintings to be doses of color against a canvas that can be interpreted into various things by people who dressed much better than he did. And this theory was only debunked by the minimalist painting of a sunflower that caught his eye.

The small canvas sat in the corner, seemingly untouched and noticeably free from the storm of paint that effected everything else in the basement.

"That one too?" he asked but she didn't answer. He looked down at her and was surprised to see that she was looking at the painting too. Lucas wanted to smack himself. He shouldn't have asked. It was probably in the corner for a reason. He blamed his conscience that sounded like Zay for making him invade her privacy, he was going to get to know her as time went on right? He wasn't rushing into anythi—

"It's a long story." she muttered and took a deep breath like she was preparing herself to tell it.

"You don't have to tell me." he whispered into her hair. She hadn't taken her eyes off the painting and Lucas was beginning to feel stupid for feeling so unsure about his feelings.

Maya stepped out of his arms and looked at him, solemnly, "But I _want_ to tell you." She took another deep breath that made Lucas anxious before continuing.

"Uh, that painting was for my mom. I drew her a sunflower when I was in kindergarten and she kept in on our fridge until she died. I thought about painting her a much better one to make her feel better while she was getting chemo and staying in the hospital but she passed away before I could show it to her. Then I thought about just throwing it away because there was no point in keeping it and then I got an offer to open up my own gallery. It was going to be one of the main pieces but my father thought it didn't match the "ambiance" of the gallery so I left it down here." Lucas' eyes followed her as she paced back and forth recounting what happened, all the while he felt like an idiot.

All his thoughts were jumbling in his head whether or not he should've told her the truth. Maybe he should've confronted Missy about his feelings for her first even though he felt so sure moments ago that all he wanted was Maya. Maybe he should stop thinking so much and feeling so tense. Lucas reached out and grabbed Maya's wrist before pulling her into him again.

"Watching you pace back and forth was starting to make me nervous." he said quietly.

"Sorry. I just keep thinking about Riley's party today," she sighed, "I really can't believe he wants me to go to that. Hell, I can't believe that Isadora wants me to go and I thought she was on my side." Lucas held her tighter at the mention of Isadora, he knew Isadora wanting her to go stung a lot more.

Then in the midst of him comforting her, his stomach growled. It was a loud enough gurgle that Maya heard it and tilted her head up to look at him. He was really fucking things up today, wasn't he? He was probably so caught up in seeing Maya and making sure she was okay that he forgot to eat. What an idiot. Trying to act unabashed by the sudden noise, Lucas gazed down at her and the moment the two made eye contact, Maya burst out laughing.

"Did you not have anymore farm oats and crops in your apartment, huckleberry?" she stopped to ask him in an obnoxious southern accent.

"Oooooh you're so funny. I thought you'd be more concerned about your boyfriend." he let slip and only realized what he said when he saw Maya's smile fall.

"Boyfriend?" she questioned and he let go of her wrist.

"I-I meant bodyguard?" he tried and Maya smirked.

"Sure you did. Makes me wonder how exactly you became a cop while being such a bad liar." She took his hand while shaking her head and lead him toward the stairs.

"Wait! Where are we going?" he questioned when his foot hit the first step.

"To get food before your stomach starts eating itself." Maya answered him like it was obvious. He nodded and let her lead him up the stairs but the two stopped at the sound of voices and Maya looked like she wanted to punch someone. "Fuck, my dad is here. There's no way he'll let me leave the house unless it's to go to Riley's party. _Shit_. Not to mention Isadora is there for backup."

"I'll just lie and say that we're going to Riley's party and we'll go somewhere else instead." Lucas told her before she started to feel panicky again. She looked upstairs again at the sound of another voice beside her father and stepmother.

"What about Isadora?"

"I'll convince her too...somehow."

"You couldn't even convince _me_ just now."

"Just trust me, Maya. I got it under control. You'll see." Lucas even pat his chest trying to show how good he was at persuasion. If he was being honest though, he just hoped Isadora wouldn't rat them out.

" _Right."_ Maya shook her head and continued up the stairs with him. As soon as the two of them stepped out though, it was like her father knew they were coming and was outside the door, waiting. Maya didn't know if she expected him to yell at her or remind her that Riley's party was today but he did neither. In fact, he almost looked pleased at the sight of the two of them. Maya glanced from him to Lucas and when no one spoke, she cleared her throat.

"Well, I'm just gonna go upstairs and get a jacket." Maya excused herself and gave Lucas a pointed look when he didn't move from his spot. She climbed the stairs, figuring that it would look less suspicious if she wasn't there while trying to convince her father that they were actually going to Riley's party. Once at the top of the stairs, she looked down at her outfit and knew that she should probably look to see if she looked decent enough to go on a date with.

The giddy feeling returned at the mention of the word. She walked into her room and gave herself a once over in the mirror behind her door. One thing she noticed other than her ponytail slipping from the hair tie she had it in, was the content smile on her face. Isadora was right about something good coming out of her getting a caretaker, she was able to meet able someone who genuinely cared about her and she didn't realize how much she truly missed that feeling until that moment.

For the first time in a long time, Maya actually felt like she would be okay. She might still live with a shitty excuse for a parent but things were going to be okay. Maya grinned at her reflection again, taking out the hair tie all together and shaking out her hair before going back out into the hall where the conversation between Lucas and her father stopped her.

Lucas should've known why the smile on Kermit Hart's face made him so uneasy. He noticed him and Maya holding hands. But his earlier conversations with Mr. Hart seemed to escape him before they began talking.

"So, how are you, Mr. Friar?" Mr. Hart asked, a smile still on his face and his hands in the pockets of his trousers. _Persuasion,_ Lucas thought to himself. He had to focus on not tipping him off.

"Great and yourself? I'm sure you're day must've been exhausting with all the good work you do." Lucas internally cringed at his wording. _Good work?_ He knows who raped Maya and decided to protect them instead of his own daughter. Lucas tried to remind himself that Mr. Hart didn't know that he knew though and that before he found out about how horrible he truly was, Lucas might've appreciated the man and his work.

"Ah," he chuckled, "Work has actually been a delight lately, which is a novelty to me. After all the stunts Maya pulled over the last three months, it's been an absolute pain to try and get the rest of the board to trust me on the new talent I've scouted.

"But you scouted Billy Ross, right?" he inquired.

"Ah yes, my shining star. No one could deny that boy's talent. Seeing him play brings me back to when I first started as a sports scout rather than talent. Almost reminds me of why I stayed a sports scout as long as I did before switching over." Lucas clenched his fist at the blatant jab at Maya and her creating "problems" for him. He needed to relax though, play it cool or Maya was gonna end up going to the party.

"Oh! Before I forget, Lucas. I really do have to thank you for what you did for me. I truly had no right to ask that much of you but I appreciate it nonetheless."

"Appreciate what, sir?"

"Taming my daughter, of course. I mean, I thought you might want to quit when I asked you to pretend to be her boyfriend but you stuck it out. I told you that this would be beneficial, not only for myself but for you too. Say, I'll even give you a raise or put in a good word with your chief, huh? What do you say? It's the least I can do to repay this enormous favor you did for me." He even pat Lucas on the back like what he agreed to was a good thing. He suddenly felt sick at the memory of him agreeing to being Maya's boyfriend moments after comforting her for that same reason.

The doubt and fear from earlier came back but worse. He needed to calm down if he wasn't going to tip off Mr. Hart. Though it was hard to when his conscience kept reminding of all the shit Maya didn't know and all the things he hadn't talked out with Missy.

"There's really no need to do any of that, sir. It's fine, really."

"Oh, you don't need to be so humble, Mr. Friar. Is it because you think your chief will be upset with you because I sorted all that out. Once he got a whiff of that confirmed relationship article floating around he practically threw a fit. He even called me to apologize for sending such an irresponsible and immature officer to me but I told him that it was just the opposite. You were more than a caretaker, you helped my family. I think I might just put in the good word. Let your chief know that when you return to the precinct it will be with a job well done. You're even escorting Maya to Riley's party. I must give you something."

Lucas was praying to anyone listening that Mr. Hart would shut up. He was calling him family and a man worthy of a raise over him lying to his daughter. Not only was the man evil but he had absolutely no remorse for any of his actions. He was so self preserving that he didn't care who he hurt to remain on top. How Lucas ever managed to think this man was decent was beyond him. How he hadn't tackled him to the ground for thinking so lowly of his daughter and putting her through so much pain was also a mystery.

It seemed the answer to his prayers was Maya coming down the stairs with a new pair of jeans on, her hair loose and a scowl on her face. Just as Maya stepped off the last stair, Isadora appeared from the kitchen in a striped cami and denim mini skirt, her large glasses still perched on her nose. It was the most casual he's ever seen her. Maya headed out the door without saying anything to either of them which Lucas took as a cue to follow her lead.

"There's really no need, Mr. Hart. Seriously." Lucas tried to assure him.

"Alright, son. But if you need anything, just let me know." Then he spun around to go back in the kitchen where his wife was babbling to someone on the phone about her manicure being messed up, leaving Lucas alone with Isadora who was looking at him, determinedly.

"Before you say anything, Isadora—"

"Ms. Hart needs to go to the party, Lucas. If she doesn't, I'm afraid that Mr. Hart and his wife plan on putting Maya in a rehab center that she won't be able to leave. I know you want to help her and I do too that's why if we just do what they tell us, she'll be safe. Do you understand?" Isadora muttered to him.

"Rehab? Why? What do you mean she won't be able to get out?" he whispered back.

"Mr. Hart has been losing patience with Ms. Hart for a while and their plan B to actually taking care of her is sending her away where she can't ruin their reputation. This family isn't good for Ms. Hart but if the alternative is a rehab center that Mr. Hart has influence at, I'd much rather have her here. I'm assuming you agree with the large amount of time you spend in the basement with her."

Isadora's warning made Lucas end his plan of persuasion completely. So that's why Isadora agreed to take Maya to the party. Mr. Hart was going to keep her in a rehab center where she surely wouldn't be able to speak out about her rape and his coverup. The whole plan enraged him but he knew that just physically hurting Mr. Hart would do nothing beneficial for Maya. Maybe he could try telling her that they would go to the party for an hour or a few minutes then leave? Would that be enough to please her father?

He felt like he was losing his mind. He just didn't want to see Maya hurt anymore. For now, they had to go to the party before Lucas could think of another way for Maya to get the hell away from her father.

"Alright." Lucas said defeatedly. Isadora nodded and opened the door to walk outside. He followed after her and spotted Maya waiting at the corner, waiting. Isadora stopped to stand next to her and Lucas stopped next to Isadora.

"I called Harley, he should be here any minute to take us to the party. Is that alright, Ms. Hart?" she asked her gently and Maya nodded. Her blonde hair acted as a veil to block the two of them from seeing her splotchy face and tears she was unable to hold in. Lucas was so caught up what a twisted family Maya was unfortunately a part of that he missed her nodding yes and her wiping one of the tears before they fell.

No one spoke again until Harley came to pick them up.


	23. find maya

**W** hen Harley arrived in the same sleek black car that picked them up for the Matthews dinner, the three of them filed into the car. Maya wiped her tears before leaning her head against the window in the back seat. Isadora tried calling her name after noticing her tears but Maya ignored her. Lucas chose to sit in the front seat and hoped that chatting to Harley about his family life would take his mind off things.

Except it didn't. The whole ride there, he heard Harley's voice rumble on and on about what an absolute chef his mother was and how there weren't even words invented yet for how good his mother cooked. All he could think of was Maya sitting in some rehab center being treated for a mental illness that she didn't have. Kermit Hart was a monster. He was beyond anything that Lucas had ever imagined, he could've never thought up the amount of hate he truly had for his own daughter. The thought made him sick.

Isadora was right about Maya not deserving to be in that horrible family and she also didn't belong in a rehab center for the rest of her life. She needed to be around people who loved her and cared about her like him and Isadora. An image entered his mind just then, it was Maya sitting on his fire escape, watching the city below her in content. She was wearing one of the sweatshirts he'd gotten at the police academy, her bare legs hanging over the ledge, her arms on top of the railing. The thought almost filled with a sense of peace before he realized what the image was.

He mentally shook himself as now was not the time to be thinking about Maya living with him. He needed to think of other ways to get her away from Kermit. His heart broke for her and all the shit she had gone through and has yet to go through.

She didn't deserve any of it.

His eyes flicked up from the road in front of them, to find her in the rearview mirror. Her head was against the window, her blonde hair fell over her face like a gold curtain and only when she moved to adjust the position of her head, did Lucas' heart sink. It was all so quick, Lucas felt her name get caught in his throat as he went to call her attention.

She had been crying. He knew bringing her to the party would be bad but what choice did he have? If he told her why he took her then she would go do something to spite her father, possibly getting her thrown into rehab sooner and then he would never see her again.

"Maya," he said, interrupting Harley's description of how rich his mother's homemade marinara sauce was. She glanced at the rearview mirror where he was looking at her and the moment they made eye contact, her eyes moved back to focusing on the buildings and cars on the other side of her window.

"Everything alright?" Harley commented, also taking a look in the rearview mirror at Maya but no one answered him. He eyed Lucas as if asking him for an answer and Lucas shook his head.

"Then I guess mama's famous spaghetti recipe can wait," Harley said and drove on in silence. Lucas couldn't stop looking at Maya though. He felt horrible and wanted so badly for her to look at him or even acknowledge him so she knew how sorry he was. He was beginning to hate the way his mind fed him assumptions as they pulled up to Riley's building, he'd never been here before and judging from the stone steps and pristine looking outside, he would never imagine that he would before taking care of Maya.

He didn't know how much he'd have to save to even be able to afford a room in the building let alone a whole penthouse. The car door opening pulled his attention back to the situation at hand. Isadora was out of the car already when Lucas spun around in his seat to look at the back and he just caught Maya stepping out of the car and slamming the car door in frustration.

Lucas said a quick thank you to Harley before hurriedly opening the door to catch Maya before she went inside. Harley closed the passenger door before driving off. Isadora entered the building with Maya not far behind her, but the moment she grabbed the handle for the door, Lucas' hand covered her own to stop her from opening it.

"Maya, stop," he said weakly and she listened. For a brief moment, he felt relief that she was actually going to hear him out and stop ignoring him but the second Maya looked up at him, he knew he was wrong. She was looking at him like he was her enemy like he was the reason she was so upset and Lucas didn't blame her but was still confused. Was she really that pissed that they went to the party even though she didn't want to?

"For what?" she answered quietly.

"Maya, I know you're probably pissed at me but hear me out. There's a reason I brought you here and I know it might sound ridiculous but just trust me—"

"I already know the reason you brought me here. You wanted a raise."

"What? No. What are you talking about?"

"I heard you talking to my dad, the whole boyfriend thing, calming me down? _Taming_ me? And here I thought you were a bad liar."

"Maya, listen—"

"No, _you_ listen. I trusted you. Somehow in the week that I've known you, I ended up trusting you, I even started to like you but that was all part of the plan wasn't it? Make me like you and then your job would be a lot easier. You know, I'm so used to people pretending around me and I thought you were different but you're just like everyone else. You're just another puppet." As she went on, Lucas noticed the anger melt away into pain. He hurt her and there were so many things he wanted to say to rectify it. To tell her that yes, he agreed to be her boyfriend but that was before he got to know her. None of what happened afterward was fake. But all he managed to say was, "Please,"

She shook his hand away from hers and tried to pull open the door again only for someone on the other side of the door to push it open instead. Maya stepped back as a girl walked out of the building, a cigarette between her teeth. Her brown hair was up in a messy ponytail, she wore an oversized striped button down that was left open and allowed the two of them to see the black tank top and shorts she had on underneath. She had bright purple slides on that Lucas was all too familiar with. He even remembered telling her that they were obnoxiously purple but she bought it anyway.

"Missy?" he questioned just as the girl looked in the direction in their direction. The cigarette nearly fell out of her mouth before she gathered her bearings. Maya's eyes filled with a sudden recognition of the name and she soon pushed past Missy to get inside the building, leaving the two of them outside and alone.

"I text you this morning," she said and he nodded like an idiot rather than actually answering. She rolled her eyes before taking this cigarette out of her mouth and holding it between her index and middle finger. She motioned with her chin to the door and asked, "Is she the reason you've been avoiding me?"

Defeated, Lucas sighed. "No, that was just me being a coward," he admitted.

"Are you gonna tell me what's been going on with you or am I gonna have to try and piece it all together myself?"

So many things came to mind, the incident with the old man at the church, his messy past, his relationship with Maya, his feelings for her that he hadn't decided were valid anymore. Instead of voicing all of these things, he sat down on the steps and let his head fall into his hands. He heard Missy huff and then heard her sit down beside him.

"I'm not going anywhere, Lucas. Something's been going on with you. You can talk to me, ya' know?" she told him softly. When he finally lifted his head to look at her, he found her looking right back at him.

"Even if it meant hurting our friendship?"

"Even if it meant hurting our friendship." she nodded.

Taking a deep breath and calming his thoughts, he spoke, "I used to have feelings for you." The words felt so strange being directed at Missy. It felt like a different person was saying them. The words didn't make him jittery or anxious to hear if she felt the same way. In some odd way, saying them aloud felt like he was lifting a weight off his shoulders.

Missy turned away from him and lifted the cigarette to her mouth before pulling a lighter out of the chest pocket of her button down. She took a drag of her cigarette before replying with smoke flowing out of her mouth, "I know,".

"You _know_? What do you mean? How could you have known? How _long_ did you know?" Lucas sputtered. He couldn't believe one of the biggest secrets he was trying to keep from her was something she already knew.

"I've known for a few months now," she tapped the butt of her cigarette with her thumb and continued, "You weren't exactly subtle, Luke. You used to look at me like I was this...I don't know, angel, I guess _._ It was hard not to notice. Not to mention you would always reject all the dates I told Zay to set you up on."

" _You_ told him to do that?"

"Yeah, it was my idea in the first place."

"Why?"

"You needed to date a real person. You needed to _like_ a real person because the girl you liked wasn't me, Lucas. It was this perfect, able to do no wrong version of me that frankly doesn't exist. I'm not this amazing person you think I am though I'll admit for a little bit I almost wished I was just so I wouldn't disappoint you." Missy looked away from him, almost ashamed that her true feelings were out in the open.

"How could you disappoint me?" he asked her. He really didn't see how she could, Missy was one of the best people he's ever met since moving to the city. He was the one that was messed up, he was the one who began their argument anyway.

"By not being who you thought I was. I smoke, I avoid my problems when I should face them head on and my dad keeps calling me because he needs money so I've been avoiding him, it's just a shit show right now," she lifted her head with a pitiful look on her face that kept Lucas frozen to his spot. A sudden wave of guilt rushed over him and settled in his mind. He was so concerned about Missy sleeping with a guy after they stopped talking that she didn't care to ask her what was going on. He grabbed her free hand and squeezed it.

"Is that how you ended up here? Because you were avoiding your dad?"

She nodded, "Yeah, Brandon lives here. He's been letting me crash at his place for the past couple of days," she mentioned Brandon's name with caution, almost afraid that if he heard the name, he'd get pissed at her again. As if he felt that he had any reason to be mad at her now that he knew all the shit she's been going through while they weren't talking.

"I'm sorry I got mad about the Brandon thing. I'm glad that you had some place to go since I've been MIA. I feel so stupid...I should've been there for you, I know how your dad gets. I just—I've been so wrapped up in my own shit lately that I've only been concerned with myself," Lucas said and shook his head at himself. Everything that happened in the past week between him and Missy was his own doing, all because he was afraid of telling her about his past.

"Well, yourself and Ms. Goldilocks in there. Are you two a thing now?"

He smiled wryly, "I honestly don't know. I've been so confused about my feelings for you and now her that I wasn't sure."

"Wasn't? Meaning you are now?"

"I'm sure that I care about both of you. I'm sure that you're one of the most important people to me and probably always will be. I'm also sure that I hurt Maya more than I ever meant to and the thought of her not wanting to talk to me or be around me hurts than I ever thought it would. I _really_ like her, Missy. She's amazing and so much stronger than I thought anyone could be. I just—"

"You're just gushing over that girl?" Missy beamed at him, "It seems like you're more than sure about your feelings for me and your feelings for her and I'm happy for you, Luke. Now, quit talking to me and go apologize to her." She slipped her hand away from his to shove him lightly. He chuckled before getting up, feeling an unexpected sense of relief.

"Wish me luck." Lucas crossed his fingers before reaching for the door handle.

"Luke!" Missy called him before he could step all the way inside. She had taken another drag of her cigarette and was also up on her feet. Smoke floated out of her mouth before she continued, the bright smile she had aimed at him had softened.

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it right now since you're rushing in to apologize to Maya but you can talk to me. I hope that when things get back to normal, you'll be able to tell me what happened that day," He could tell that she was treading with him again and he tried to ignore the pang of guilt that struck him at that moment.

"Don't worry, I will. I trust you, Missy," he assured her and her wide smile returned. A thought occurred to him just as the door was closing behind him and he rushed to stop it. Missy was still on the steps, her back turned and her cigarette still between her fingers now half the size it was when she first came outside.

"Would it be okay if I gave you the cat back?"

A laugh slipped her lips before she nodded, "Yes, now would you go already?" The two exchanged another warm smile before Lucas headed inside, planning the best way to get Maya to stop and listen to him.

* * *

Lucas didn't know if he expected a modest turn out for Riley's welcome home party, he just knew that he didn't expect the monsoon of people that were all gathered in her penthouse apartment. There was a DJ blaring house music and changing the colors of the lights so often it was gonna give him whiplash if he kept focusing on it. He needed to be looking for Maya, he reminded himself.

Though the more he stared at the crowd, grinding on each other and sloshing their cups of alcohol everywhere, the more he realized that finding her wouldn't exactly be easy. He leaned on his tiptoes to try and see over the crowd but to no avail, he made his way away from the door and tried to push through clusters of people who were completely shitfaced. Lucas wandered the party for a bit before the voice of someone he recognized caught his attention. He made his way past and around more people to find Isadora shouting at Farkle. He didn't catch all of it over the sound of heavy synth but the keywords, words that Isadora purposely emphasized reached his ears.

Coward. Asshole. Player. Untrustworthy.

Then there was a crimson colored drink thrown in Farkle's face which judging by the way he didn't try to avoid it, was something Lucas assumed he expected to happen. He saw Isadora huff before shoving past Farkle and walking toward the balcony. It looked like Farkle needed a moment to process the situation and wipe his face with the sleeve of his blazer before he spun around to follow her. That was unexpected, Lucas thought to himself. He didn't know Isadora could get that angry before, let alone throw her drink in someone's face.

 _Find Maya_ , his brain prompted. He needed to focus, otherwise, he'd be aimlessly searching Riley's apartment all night. Lucas walked past the balcony and through more people wobbling in an attempt to dance while intoxicated until he got to the staircase. He debated going upstairs to search until he saw her. His eyes found her mane of blonde hair in the shadow under the stairs. Her back was pressed against it and it seemed she was forced to remain there by two arms that belonged to...Lucas squinted and almost let out a bewildered, "What?"

Billy Ross? What was Billy Ross doing with Maya? The closer he got, the more the music faded into the background and he could hear their conversation. Billy had leaned in to whisper in her ear and Maya was trying her hardest to keep her head away from him. Her small hands were clenched into fists and she was wincing even though he hadn't seen Billy lay a hand on her.

What more did he not know about the people he's spent a week with? Why would Maya be so afraid of him?

Suddenly, just as the question appeared in his mind, an answer appeared. Kermit warning Maya not to tell anyone about who raped her because it would ruin their career, Kermit had issues at work for the past three months because of Maya but was saved because of his shining star. Whose career would Kermit Hart want to protect so badly that he didn't care about his own daughter being raped?

It was Billy Ross.

Lucas didn't know when he had gotten so close to them, he just knew that one moment he was watching Maya be harassed by her rapist and the next moment he was gripping the back of Billy's emerald green polo and pulling him off her. He heard Maya say, "Lucas?" and Billy begin a sentence asking him what the hell he thought he was doing. He never got to finish his sentence, however, because the second he opened his mouth, Lucas swung his fist back and punched him in the face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: the scene where lucas punches billy in the face was inspired by strings by shawn mendes (don't ask me how i got a fight scene from that song) which is what made me want to write strings in the first place hence the story's name x


	24. you're nothing but a paid off puppet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only two more chapters left! thanks for reading x

* * *

 

 **M** aya didn't know how long she watched Lucas slam his fist into Billy's face before she called out for him to stop. She knows that after she did it, it was no use. There was already a crowd forming around them of people who were sober enough to realize what was going on. Someone was saying that they should call the police and all Maya could look at was Lucas' bloody knuckles as he hovered over Billy's hunched over body.

Blood was spilling out of Billy's nose and leaking into his mouth where he was gasping for air and groaning in between Lucas' punches. The blood paired with the red-hued lighting in Riley's apartment, made the whole scene look more haunting.

It seemed like Maya would never be able to step away from the scene especially when Lucas looked up at her, his eyes filling with the realization of what he just did. They then shifted to the circle of people surrounding the three of them and truly understood what he had done. His shoulders slacked and he moved to get off of Billy who still hadn't tried to move from his spot on the floor.

Just as Maya opened her mouth to speak words she hadn't yet formed in her brain, a hand grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her through the crowd of people and away from Lucas. She tried pulling her hand away as her the sight of Lucas and Billy disappeared behind the dozens of sweaty bodies at the party. She finally turned her head to see who it was and it was Riley who hadn't turned back to look at her and didn't do so until they were in an elevator with Farkle and Isadora waiting for them.

* * *

The four of them didn't speak until they were on the floor of Farkle's apartment. Riley hadn't let go of her wrist until they were inside with the door closed and locked.

"Are you okay?" Riley asked her, looking her up and down to check for injuries. Maya didn't move or shake her head to indicate that she was or wasn't. Truth be told, she didn't know what she felt. She just knew that Lucas was in trouble and as much as she hated him for lying to her, a part of her still wanted to go back upstairs where the party was to see if he was alright.

"What happened back there? All of a sudden I hear people screaming to call the police and Riley says that you're in the middle of it," Farkle chimed in, drops of something red that faded into pink that Maya noticed under the fluorescent lighting of the elevator still prominent against his white button down.

She still didn't say anything while Isadora reappeared with a glass of water from the kitchen. She handed it to her along with a look of reassurance that meant more to Maya than she was letting on. Everything seemed more real now. Her situation with Billy, her situation with Lucas and most importantly her situation with her friends that seemed inescapable now. Maya raised the glass to her lips before taking a large gulp of it down.

Isadora's eyes floated around the extravagant apartment, flitting from the crystal chandelier hanging a few feet away from them to the cream leather couches illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the open windows. Isadora then turned her attention to Farkle and asked, "So, is Mr. Minkus home?"

He took a deep sigh like she's asked him this question numerous times already and said, "No, Isadora. My father isn't home, not that that would change me bringing you here if he was,"

"Right, of course. It's not like he would be opposed to me being here and _not_ serving you drinks," Isadora answered him snarkily and Maya looked at her in shock. For as long as she's known her, Isadora never answered anyone with an attitude especially if they were people who were swimming in money. She also didn't remember her talking to _Farkle_ that way ever.

"Isadora, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't care what he thinks. Did I make a mistake by going to Europe instead of staying here with you? Yes, it was probably one of the worst mistakes of my life."

"It must've been such a _huge_ mistake for you to want to stay there for three months, right? Nevermind the fact that you slept with a bunch of girls while you were there and didn't think once to tell me it was over. I stayed here waiting for you like an idiot, Farkle!"

"I didn't tell you it was over because it wasn't! How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry before you finally get that I am!"

"Oh, I don't know maybe until I believe you're actually sorry!"

"Guys!" Riley interrupted them, the two of them had been stolen the attention from the problem at hand within a few seconds. Maya almost felt like thanking them though Riley looked mildly annoyed. She wasn't even aware that Isadora and Farkle had been together, she knew they were seeing each other in secret with the two of them being unable to hide anything very well. Especially something like a forbidden romance for so many months when the three of them were still friends.

Though the arguing and Isadora calling Farkle by his first name seemed strange for the two of them, Maya had to admit.

"Can we focus on Maya, please? Her boyfriend nearly killed Billy." Riley told the two of them before turning back to Maya. Isadora and Farkle huffed but stopped arguing nonetheless though that wasn't what grabbed Maya's attention. It was the way Riley spoke of Lucas like he was some savage that nearly killed an innocent bystander for simply breathing too loud.

"He was protecting me," Maya finally spoke up. Her voice was soft which she didn't expect seeing as the other times she spoken that night were to scream. What surprised her the most was that she was coming to Lucas' defense after she caught him lying to her.

"Protecting you from what? Billy? You've known him since high school, Maya. He's harmless." Riley replied like it was preposterous that someone would need protection from Billy. Her words flooded her mind with memories of the morning after it happened when her own father didn't want to believe her when he _refused_ to believe her because of Billy's public image.

"He raped me, Riley," she whispered and the room felt quieter after she had. She heard Riley gasp and saw Farkle's attention refocus on Maya after it had begun to shift back to Isadora.

"Billy raped you? When? At the party?" she stepped closer to Maya, concern laced in her voice.

Maya shook her head and looked down at her hands, "Not at this one. It was three months ago, the night that you left for Paris."

"The night before your gallery opening? Maya, why didn't you report him to the police? Actually, why _haven't_ you reported him to the police?"

"Because they wouldn't believe me."

"Of course they would, Maya! They would have evidence and they would run tests that would go along with your statement. They wouldn't be able to say you're lying against solid proof. That can't be the real reason, you're keeping this to yourself."

"What do you want from me, Riley! To tell you that my father is the one who told me not to tell anyone because it would ruin my career? And that I actually listened because once upon a time his opinion meant everything to me? If I come out with the truth, who's to say anyone will believe me, huh? I'm just the crazy artist who lost her mind and tried to kill herself, who ruined her career all on her own. No one will care." Maya admitted to the three of them and herself. No would believe her, it was three months ago and the whole world loved Billy Ross.

"Maya..." Riley reached out a hand to her but Maya took a step back.

"We only want to help you, Maya. You can't keep letting him roam free. What if he does it again, huh? To some girl who isn't in the spotlight and doesn't have the power, you have to speak up. You're gonna keep letting him get away with it?" Farkle added.

"I-I don't know."

"Well you should, Maya! What he did is inexcusable and by being quiet you're letting him get away with it!" Farkle said loudly. His voice echoed in the empty apartment and made his tone sound harsher. She didn't realize she'd flinched at the volume of his voice until she heard Isadora say, "That's enough, Farkle. She gets it."

"Maya, we know that we haven't been good friends to you in the past few months but if you just consider—I don't know, contacting the press or going on social media. You could reach thousands of people and have your story out there. Have the _truth_ out there." Riley said softly. She didn't know why but it felt like she was being forced into a corner, where everyone wanted her to speak up but didn't realize that if she did it could backfire. They didn't know because they weren't there for the three months she stayed suffering in isolation.

No one knew what it felt like to have the world turn against them in an instant because of one incident that was caused by another incident that had remained a secret.

 _She needed to leave_ , she decided and made a beeline for the door. Maya heard Riley call out her name but didn't turn back around until she was in the elevator, where she hoped her thoughts would finally quiet.

Only when she was out of the building and on the corner of the street hailing a cab did she think of a place she could go in order for her to collect her thoughts.

* * *

Lucas felt defeated. From not being able to tell Maya the truth to losing his temper during the party to then being arrested and taken to the very precinct he worked at. There weren't words strong enough to describe the look on his chief's face when Lucas arrived at the station with his hands behind his back like some common criminal.

He remembered thinking that his chief's face would be stuck looking like it did that night. His face seemed to shrink together as his eyebrows wrinkled in a furrow and his lips remained pursed until Lucas was out of the handcuffs and the two of them were alone in his office with the door closed.

 _"What the hell did you think you were doing tonight, Friar?" he asked him, slamming his palms against the top of his desk. The corners of the papers he had stacked in the corner lifted and fell at the abrupt noise. He held up his hand as Lucas opened his mouth to respond, "Actually don't answer that. I_ know _exactly what you were thinking. The same thing you were thinking hurting that old man at the church last week. Have you learned nothing from being demoted?"_

_"Of course I have, chief but—I don't know. Billy Ross...he..." Lucas trailed off suddenly remembering that the whole reason that he beat the crap out of Billy was that of something Maya told him in confidence._

_"He what? Spit it out, Friar!"_

_"He raped someone, chief!" he blurt out before he could stop himself. Maybe it was the disapproving look he was getting from his captain from the opposite side of the desk and he could tell that he didn't believe him. It was the same look he shot him a week ago after what happened at the church._

_"Billy Ross_ raped _someone? The same Billy Ross that donated all that money to research a cure for cancer? You've got to be kidding me, Friar."_

_"I'm being serious!"_

_"Well, then who did he rape? Hm? Can I get a name?"_

_"Um, no?" Lucas winced._

_His chief scoffed, "How convenient. Billy Ross is an alleged rapist and his victim is anonymous or maybe...she just doesn't exist," Lucas knew that he should be treading lightly with the chief and that was the plan up until that moment. Lucas stared right back at the chief, equally as angry as he was._

_"She doesn't exist? Are you saying that I would lie about something like this? Why would I hurt an innocent civilian?"_

_"You just did tonight! You're saying that he raped someone but refuse to give me a name. How do you even know that he actually did it, if what you're saying is even the truth? Do you have any proof? Were you there?"_

_"No, but the repercussions of what he did ruined someone's life! You expect me to ignore the trauma this person is going through just because I didn't witness it first hand? Why would anyone pretend to be raped?"_

_"Because they want_ money, _Friar. Or they want some media attention. It's not a novelty that people in the spotlight have people who love to appear with made up stories about them so they can get paid off to shut up. I would think you would know better by now." The chief shook his head and sat back in his chair with a sigh._

 _"How can you call yourself an officer? How can you sit in that chair and be in charge of protecting people in this city? It's people like you that are the reason rape victims don't come forward with their stories_ especially _if their rapist is someone like Billy Ross. I can't believe at one point in my career, I admired you. Hell, I even wanted to_ be _you. But you're nothing but a paid off puppet."_

_"That's enough, Friar! You're crossing a very dangerous line now. One more word and that's it. No more second chance babysitting job. The only time you'll be stepping into this precinct again is to report a crime as a civilian."_

_Lucas rose from his seat and said, "Goodbye, chief." then proceeded to leave his office, the chief calling him repeatedly until the door shut behind him._

He's been trying not to beat himself up about leaving because he did the right thing. Chief basically told him that no matter what, Billy Ross wasn't a rapist just because of the reputation he has in the media. It was ridiculous and it made him angry because it was almost like everyone was reinforcing that Maya should stay quiet.

He shook his head as he trudged home, disappointed in himself for losing it in front of Maya, she was probably afraid of him now too. On top of her thinking, he's a liar which he was and that he never cared about her although he did. Maya remained at the forefront of his mind for the remainder of his walk home, Lucas found it bittersweet as he thought about the week they spent together and the moments they shared both good and bad. It still surprised him how short a time it took for him to care for her.

Even if she didn't speak to him again, he didn't mind, he just wanted to know if she was okay but he knew finding that out was going to be difficult seeing as she disappeared from the party just before the police came and arrested him.

A sniffle peeled his eyes away from the pattern of dried up gum scattered across the sidewalk as he turned the corner to go up the stairs into his apartment. His heart leaped into his throat. Sitting before him was Maya, her hands covering her face and her mane of golden hair falling past her shoulders and down her back in soft waves. He knows she hadn't seen him yet and debated on whether or not he should say something or maybe leave her alone. But she was at _his_ apartment, surely it was because she wanted to see him right?

Then Maya let her hands fall into her lap and her teary eyes met his. Without exchanging a single word with each other, Maya stood up from her place on the steps as Lucas walked up the stairs to wrap her in his arms. She didn't move to get out of his embrace nor did she return his hug, she just stood there and cried into his shirt.

Lucas broke the silence first, he held her tighter against and said into her shoulder, "None of what your dad said was true except me accepting to be your boyfriend. But even that is inexcusable but I just want you to know that I never lied about caring about you. Maya, you mean more to me than I can even explain. I just wanted you to know that even if after tonight you decide that you hate me and never want to speak to me again, I'll always be here for you because I..." Lucas wanted to blame his trailing off to him not wanting to tell her the extent of how much he cared for her but it was really just because of her putting her arms around him to hug him back.

"I believe you," she whispered into his shirt.

[*]

Riley was scrambling for ways to get Maya's story out there without actually having to reveal it herself. It wasn't her place to tell the world about Maya's rape but they _deserved_ to know. Especially if the said rapist was going to be on the cover of People's magazine next month for being American baseball's pride and joy.

"Riley, would you quit pacing? You're making me nervous." Farkle asked her from his place on the couch. The two of them hadn't bickered again since Riley told them to focus again on Maya but they did manage to sit next to each other on the couch without ripping each other's heads off.

"We should be nervous, Farkle. Maya's been going through hell while we were away, people need to know about what happened to her." Riley gasped right after she spoke, a brilliant idea suddenly coming to mind. She pulled her phone out of the pocket of her burgundy trousers and opened Twitter. Her thumbs flowed quickly over her phone screen until she was done typing. She went over her tweet once before sending it out on her account.

"What did you do, Riley?" Farkle asked cautiously. She sent him a small smile as Isadora glanced up from her phone.

"Hopefully, I helped Maya."


End file.
